Joan's Krispie Chocolate Chip Cookies

      A shift mate of Tom's at the aquarium makes cupcakes each week for his shift.  She is baking her way through the Martha Stewart Cupcake cookbook.  On many occasions, I have been the recipient of some of her culinary treats.  (She also works on my shift, but the cupcakes are always for Tom's shift.)  Well, one week she made these cookies instead of cupcakes.  Yum!  And there was something that made them very crisp.  She shared the recipe with me and I'm sharing it with you. (See additional baking notes at the bottom.)

     Besides being crispy, they are not overly sweet, so that is also good.  My next try will be to add rice krispies to my other chocolate chip cookie recipe with the melted butter.  (http://eileensmontereykitchen.blogspot.com/2011/05/5-cs-crispy-crunchy-chocolate-chip.html)

Cream together:

1 stick butter

½ C white sugar

½ C brown sugar       

Then add:

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

Sift together into the batter; mix in:

1 C + 2Tbsp flour

½ tsp each: salt, baking soda, baking powder

Stir in:

2 C rice krispies (Place in a baggie and HAND crush, slightly)

½-3/4 C chocolate chips

½-3/4 C toasted walnuts, chopped

Drop by generous tablespoonfuls on parchment-lined cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 for 13-17 minutes.  Makes about 2 dozen.*

*Joan’s directions say to bake at 325 for 13-14 minutes.  I set my convection oven inadvertently to 375 (which heats to 350) and it took about 15-18 minutes to bake.  Maybe they were too big.  The recipe card said it makes 15-18, but I had 29 cookies.

Mediterranean Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes

 This was a simple dinner to make, although it took time to bake the tomatoes.  It was so easy and very tasty.  Although the original recipe called for Roma tomatoes, I found the skin on them to be too tough.

This sauce also works well for other uses, too.  Spread it on bread, cooked eggs, veggies.  You'll find other uses, too.

2 pounds tomatoes, about 4-5 tomatoes cut into about 2-inch pieces
1/4 C olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T Italian seasoning
1/4-1/2 t crushed red pepper
1/2 t sea salt
1/4 t ground pepper
8 ounces pasta, such as spaghetti or fettuccine (I used an 8 oz. pkg of TJ's garlic fettuccine)

shredded parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Place tomato chunks, cut-sides up, in foil-lined 9x13 inch pan. Mix oil, minced garlic and seasonings in small bowl. Spoon over tomatoes.

2. Roast 45 to 60 minutes until tomatoes are soft and browned on top.

3. Prepare pasta as directed on package. Drain well.

4. Coarsely mash the roasted tomatoes on the baking pan.  Pour over pasta; toss to mix slightly. Serve with shredded Parmesan cheese and additional crushed red pepper, if desired.

Serves 3-4.

*Next day:  I heated some cooked shredded pork and then added the leftover pasta and tomatoes.  This is one way to make it more hearty, but it isn't necessary.

Original recipe

Sparkling Gingersnaps

One of the PTA parents brought these cookies to a teacher workshop.   We all had to have the recipe!  Sometimes I make half the recipe; other times I freeze what I don't want to bake for another time.

4 cups flour                                         2 cups sugar

1 T baking soda                                    ½ cup butter

2 t cinnamon                                         1 cup shortening

1 t EACH: salt, ginger,                          ½ cup molasses

            and allspice                              2 eggs

      additional sugar for rolling (about ½ cup)

Combine dry ingredients in left-hand column; set aside.  Beat together ingredients in right-hand column until light and creamy.  Add dry ingredients.  At this point you can refrigerate to make handling easier or not.

            Form into 1-inch balls.  Roll in sugar.  Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 10-13 minutes at 350 degrees.  Cool slightly before removing from cookie sheet.

                                                                                    Makes 5-7 dozen

*Dough may be frozen for 2-3 weeks.  Defrost in refrigerator for 2-4 hours or until soft enough to handle.  Or cookies may be frozen.  Or make half the recipe.         

Mom's Granola

The original recipe for this came from Tom's Mom.  Keep what you like; take out what you don't.  Increase the amount of one thing, but decrease something else to keep the proportions about the same.

3 C oatmeal                      300 g                   

½ C sliced almonds          50 g
1 C chopped nuts               75 g

½ C coconut                         50 g              

¼ C sesame seeds*                             

1/4 C wheat germ*            30 g   + 10 g ground flax

  
2 tsp cinnamon

½  tsp nutmeg             

Liquids 

1/3 C oil      
2 Tbsp grated orange/lemon rind ++

¼-½ C honey/maple syrup #  (depends on how sweet you want it)    

½ Tbsp molasses   

1 tsp vanilla extract   

½ tsp almond extract (optional)
       

To add after baking:  
1-2 C dried fruit such as cranberries, chopped dried pears, etc.

* Can be toasted at 350 for about 10 minutes. Stir so it won’t burn.  (Don’t brown too much because it will roast more as it bakes.)  Then turn oven down to 300 degrees.

++ Really adds a nice touch of brightening up the flavor
#  Can use any sweetener as part of this amount.

Combine dry ingredients.  Mix liquids and heat in microwave for 20-30 seconds if necessary.  Add to dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Line 1 large (13x17)  or two (9x13) pans with foil and spray with oil.  Spread out in pan(s).  Bake for 30-40- minutes, stirring several times.  It will continue to brown slightly after removal from oven.

Cool and mix in dried fruit, if desired.  Makes about 6-7 cups.

Keeps several months in a tightly closed container or keep in freezer.

Buttermilk Scones with Lemon Glaze

These scones are tender and moist, unlike some recipes.  The combination of the dried cranberries (I substituted these for dried currants in the original recipe.) and grated lemon peel make it interesting and the lemon glaze really adds zing. 

Since I don't usually keep buttermilk around, I just added about 1 tablespoon of vinegar to the measuring cup, then added regular or soy milk to the amount I needed.

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour         Glaze:
1/4 cup granulated sugar              6 tablespoons powdered sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder           4 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into chunks
3/4 cup buttermilk 
1 large egg
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel 

1. Preheat oven to 350°. In a bowl or food processor, mix or whirl flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt to blend. Add butter and cut in with a pastry blender or pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. If using a processor, scrape mixture into a bowl.

2. In a small bowl, whisk buttermilk and egg to blend. Add to flour mixture along with dried cranberries and lemon peel. Stir with a fork just until evenly moistened (dough will look crumbly).

3. Scrape dough onto a floured surface and, with lightly floured hands, work it into a ball, then pat into a 7-inch round about 1 3/4 inches thick. Cut dough into eight equal wedges. Arrange wedges 2 inches apart on a baking sheet.

4. Bake scones until tops are browned, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool about 10 minutes on baking sheet. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together powdered sugar and lemon juice. Drizzle glaze over warm scones. Serve scones warm or let cool completely.

Yield:  Makes 8 scones      

Note: Nutritional analysis is per scone.    Nutritional Information

CALORIES 360(33% from fat); FAT 13g (sat 7.5g); PROTEIN 6.3g; CHOLESTEROL 58mg; SODIUM 419mg; FIBER 1.8g; CARBOHYDRATE 56g

Sunset, APRIL 2006 

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/buttermilk-currant-scones-with-lemon-glaze-10000001173741/

Cobb Salad with Dressing

For those of you who are interested in making the salad, here is the recipe.  The interesting thing was that all the lettuce was chopped, and they brought it to the table with the toppings laid out, but they tossed it, which I thought makes a lot of sense, and of course, it tasted better with the ingredients mixed together.

½ head Iceberg lettuce                       6 strips crisp bacon

½ bunch watercress                           1 avocado

1 small bunch chicory                         3 hard boiled eggs

½ head romaine                                 2 Tbsp chives, chopped

2 medium tomatoes, peeled              ½ C bleu cheese, crumbled

½ breast turkey, poached                  1 C dressing * (seems like a LOT)

Chop all greens finely and arrange in salad bowl.  Cut tomatoes in half, remove seeds, and dice fine.  Also fine dice turkey, avocado, and eggs.  Arrange the above ingredients, including the bleu cheese and bacon crumbles, in straight lines across the salad.  Arrange chive diagonally across the above lines.  Present this at the table, toss the salad with the dressing and place on chilled plates.

Makes 4-6 servings.

* See Brown Derby Cobb Salad Dressing

Brown Derby Cobb Salad Dressing

Cobb Salad was one of my favorite salads from when I first read a recipe for it in the early to mid 1980s.  It was awhile before it showed up on restaurant menus, and now just about every restaurant has some version of it.  The story goes that it was invented at the Brown Derby Restaurant in Hollywood late one night using up ingredients in the fridge.  When we visited MGM Studios at Disney World, we ate the Cobb Salad at the Brown Derby, where they gave out the recipe.  I've never made the entire recipe, but I use the salad dressing often.

I have included proportions for three different amounts as the original recipe makes a LOT!

Makes:	1 1/2 cups		2 cups	6 cups
	1/4 t	sugar	1/2 t	1 t
	1 3/4 t	salt	2 1/2 t	2 1/2 T
	3/4 t	black pepper	1 t	1 T
	1/4 t	ground mustard	1/3 t	1 t
	3/4 t	worcestershire sauce	1 t	1 T
	1 clove	garlic	1 clove	1 clove
	1/4 C	water	1/3 C	1 C
	3/4 C	salad oil	1 C	3 C
	1/4 C	red wine vinegar	1/3 C	1 C
	1 1/2 t	lemon juice	2 t	2 T
	1/4 C	olive oil	1/3 C	1 C