Brown Sugar Glazed Salmon

Tonight I wanted something that was still pretty mild, from being sick, but also not as rich as all of the holiday foods we typically have. This recipe is based loosely off of a recipe from our old bishopric member, Brother (and Sister) Wright.

4 T Brown Sugar
4 T Butter

Melt and stir together. Then add the following until fully incorporated:

4 t Honey
3 T Mustard
4 T Soy Sauce
1 Green Onion (cut up)

Line baking pan with foil and then place baking rack on top. Spray with pan spray or use a paper towel to oil the rack and prevent the fish from sticking to it.

Poke holes with a fork in the thawed salmon (if not using fresh fish). If the skin is easy to remove from salmon, do so at this point, if not, then place salmon skin side down on rack. Drizzle 2/3rds sauce over the salmon or enough to cover it the pieces of salmon.

Bake at 350 uncovered for 20-25 minutes or till fish is done. Then drizzle the remaining sauce over the fish. This sauce was enough sauce for about 5-6 large pieces of salmon. I turned the oven off and let them stay warm in side while I finished the rest of dinner. (Cinnamon yam/potato dish and steamed broccoli).

Chocolate Ginger Cookies

Last year my hometeacher in the family ward left a cute bag cookies for my roommate and I a little before Christmas. They were smaller, but I was so surprised about the great flavor and how well the chocolate and ginger flavors complimented each other! They are fairely easy to make and are not the common chocolate cookie people expect. Hope you enjoy them! ;-)

Ingredients

• • 7 ounces best-quality semisweet chocolate
  • 1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 tablespoon unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
  • 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
  • 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
  • 1/2 cup dark-brown sugar, packed
  • 1/2 cup unsulfured molasses
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar

Directions

1. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Chop chocolate into 1/4-inch chunks; set aside. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cocoa.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and grated ginger until whitened, about 4 minutes. Add brown sugar; beat until combined. Add molasses; beat until combined.
3. In a small bowl, dissolve baking soda in 1 1/2 teaspoons boiling water. Beat half of flour mixture into butter mixture. Beat in baking-soda mixture, then remaining half of flour mixture. Mix in chocolate; turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Pat dough out to about 1 inch thick; seal with wrap; refrigerate until firm, 2 hours or more.
4. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Roll dough into 1 1/2- inch balls; place 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Refrigerate 20 minutes. Roll in granulated sugar. Bake until the surfaces crack slightly, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

http://www.marthastewart.com/339353/chewy-chocolate-gingerbread-cookies

Sweet and Sour Sauce

 Mom was pretty sick yesterday, so I offered to make dinner. I was in the mood for something different, and remembered we had the left over pork roast, so I tried to think of what would be good to do with the left overs... and this is what I came up with... but of course I changed the recipe.... here is the original, with changes at the end in italics. My goal was to find a recipe that did not use corn syrup or catsup in it, one that was relatively clean...

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon peeled and grated fresh ginger
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup pineapple or orange juice
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar

• 1 heaping tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch blended with 2 tablespoons cold water

Directions

Heat a wok or saucepan over high heat and add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the ginger and garlic. Stir-fry just until fragrant, and then add the juice, vinegar, brown sugar and soy sauce. Bring to a boil and cook until the sugar has dissolved. Stir in the cornstarch and water mixture and cook until thickened, about 1 minute. Stir into any nearly completed stir-fry dish and bring to a boil until the sauce thickens, about 1 minute.
Click here for Web site.

* I more then doubled the recipe by adding and making the following changes:

• 2 T oil
• 2 T of fresh ginger
• 4 cloves of garlic (some about half were small, and half were bigger)
• 1 cup of pineapple juice
• 1 cup of pear juice (from canned pears in the refrigerator)
• 1 1/2 cups of water
• 3+ T of soy sauce
• Instead of another cup of pineapple juice, I added 1 cup of juice from the pairs.
• 4 T vinegar -- mom did no have rice vinegar
• 2 T brown sugar

*I started as directed with the ginger and the garlic in the oil, then added my juices, brown sugar, 2 T of soy sauce, and vinegar.

*It tasted super sweet and vinegary , so I added more soy sauce and water (trying stretch the sauce anyways) and when I added the onion, it finally started to taste better. 

*After creating the sauce initially, I sliced some onions up, tossing them in and added the meat for a bit, letting them simmer together. 

 *Next I added a yellow & an orange pepper, but tried to not let them over cook. 

*I did thicken the sauce twice also, once after adding the normal proportions, but when I stretched it with water as I was adding the onions, it seemed to get too liquidy again, so made the cornstarch/water mixture again, and added it for a minute or two to the boiling sauce before taking it off the heat and serving it.

*Served over baked white rice.

Easy Lemon Pudding and Cream Puffs

My roommates and I had an International Holiday Part on 12/7.. with the next week was finals I was a bit stressed, so I opted to make cream puffs, but wanted to try something different... I began by making homemade Lemon Pudding to fill them with. I loved the recipe, although I should have waited longer for the Pudding to set up more before filling them. Sorry no pics of the cream puffs, but they looked great on the Blue Platter, all sprinkled with sifted powdered sugar over them. See italics at the end of the recipes for the changes I made to it.

Lemon Pudding

• ¾ cup sugar
• ¼ cup cornstarch
• 2 ½ cups milk
• 3 egg yolks, beaten
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons butter

1. In a saucepan whisk together sugar and cornstarch.
2. Over medium heat, slowly whisk in milk. And cook for 2-3 minutes or until slightly thickened.
3. Place one cup of hot pudding mixture into a small bowl with the egg yolks. Whisk together. You are tempering the eggs.
4. Return egg/pudding mixture to the pan and continuing cooking over med heat until thickened. You need to stir this consistently.
5. Remove from heat and add lemon juice and butter. Stir until butter is melted and mixture is combined.
6. Strain pudding to remove any lumps.
7. Serve warm or cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator.  
8. *Knowing there would not be a lot of lemon pudding per cream puff, I bumped up the flavor at the end, by adding two cap-fulls of lemon extract after removing it from the heat. 
9. *I also did not strain the pudding. 
10. *I did the the egg/hot pudding mixture earlier, rather then later so they would not get stringy, and it worked really well.) 

Pastry Shell

1/2 cup butter

1 cup water

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup all-purpose flour

4 eggs

1	Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2.	In a large pot, bring water and butter to a rolling boil. Stir in flour and salt until the mixture forms a ball. Transfer the dough to a large mixing bowl. Using a wooden spoon or stand mixer, beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet.
3.	Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown. Centers should be dry.
4.	When the shells are cool, either split and fill them with the pudding mixture, or use a pastry bag to pipe the pudding into the shells. *I just used my kitchen aid, and it worked really well.*

Bigger than Chocolate Meringue pie

So I am doing a little catch up, and this was from about a week after thanksgiving. I still had the whole milk, so I made the following. It is basically a Chocolate Meringue pie, that I put in a pie 9 x 13 pan. 

Here is the recipe with what I did, but also thoughts on what I would change (in italics):

My cute new roommate, Jessie

Pie Crust: 
3 c flour
1 t salt 
1 c shortening
ice cold water

*do not use all of pie crust, just line the sides and bottom of pan, be sure to put fork holes in the crust * Bake until golden brown at a temp of 375 (for about) 

*This time, because I had it, I used the butter flavored shortening which gave the crust a little different flavor, that I kind of liked*

Chocolate Pudding 
4 c whole milk
1 C sugar
2/3 C + 2 T cocoa powder
8 t cornstarch  (I want to go down to at least 6 t next time) 
6 large egg yolks  (Save your egg whites for the meringue) 
3 t vanilla extract (increase to 5) 
2 t almond extract (leave out) 

½ t salt (bump up to ¾ t) 
Put 3 cups of the milk, the sugar, and the cocoa in a nonreactive saucepan. Bring to a simmer, over medium-high heat. Remove from the heat.

Meanwhile, whisk the remaining 1-cup of the milk, cornstarch, salt, egg yolks, and vanilla in a bowl. (I used the kitchen aid.) Gradually whisk the hot milk into the egg mixture. Return to the saucepan and cook over medium-high heat whisking constantly, until the pudding comes to a full boil. Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer, and continue whisking until thick, about 2 or 3 minutes more. Cover with saran wrap.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/chocolate-pudding-recipe/index.html

Meringue

Beat 6 egg whites and ¾ teaspoon cream of tartar at high speed of mixer until foamy. Slowly add remaining 3/4 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon at time, beating until stiff peaks form and sugar dissolves (2 to 4 minutes).

Pour pudding into cooled baked pie crust. Spoon meringue onto pudding and carefully spread making sure to completely cover pudding and edge of crust. Bake for about 25 minutes at 325 or until lightly golden brown.
http://www.food.com/recipe/chocolate-meringue-pie-119236

Gingerbread Men

   We made these for Emily's students for their end of semester party. Most of them had never been to the US before this past fall and many of them didn't know much about Christmas. For their party they talked about Christmas and sang some Christmas carols. We made each student a cookie with their initials and some type of individual decoration on it. I think we finished these around 1:30 in the morning, but it sounds like it was worth all the work we put into them.

½ cup shortening
2 ½ cups flour
½ cup sugar
½ cup molasses
1 egg
1 TBSP vinegar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp cloves

Preheat the oven to 375. Beat the shortening with a mixer for 30 seconds. Then add ½ the flour plus the remaining ingredients. Beat until combined. Beat in the remaining flour. Roll the dough and chill it, or just roll it out. Cut out the dough with people-shaped cookie cutters. Bake for 5 to 6 minutes. Allow to cool. Decorate.

Reindeer Snack Mix

I saw this in the Taste of Home magazine on cookies Mom gave me last year. I made it for a Christmas party at a friends I went to this past weekend. It was pretty easy to make and surprisingly good. You have to be careful though, it can be pretty addictive!



4 1/2 C Puffed Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cereal
4 C Miniature Pretzels
12 oz Salted Peanuts
12 oz White Chocolate Chips

Combine cereal, pretzels and peanuts. Melt white chocolate chips in microwave. Pour over cereal mixture and toss to coat. Spread over wax paper. Let stand until set, about 20 minutes. Break into pieces. Store in an airtight container.

Mile High Lemon Meringue Pie

This recipe comes from the Kingsford cornstarch box. Mom made it for Thanksgiving. We'll see if it makes it  until tomorrow. It really is a mile high with the meringue
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup corn starch
2 cups water
5 egg yolks, lightly beaten
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon peel
2 tablespoons butter OR margarine
1 (9-inch) baked deep dish pie crust
MERINGUE
5 egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon corn starch

 Mix sugar and corn starch in a saucepan. Stir in water and beaten egg yolks. Cook over medium heat, stirring with a whisk until mixture reaches a boil. Reduce heat and continue stirring for 1 minute until very thick. Remove from heat; stir in lemon juice, lemon peel and butter until smooth.
Pour hot filling into pie crust.
To make MERINGUE: Beat egg whites with electric mixer at high speed until soft peaks form; gradually add sugar and corn starch, beating until stiff peaks form (tips stand straight), about 3 minutes.
Spoon meringue over hot lemon filling, sealing meringue to the edges of the crust. Use the back of a spoon to swirl meringue and draw up into peaks. Place oven rack in bottom third of preheated 375°F oven.
Bake 10 minutes, until peaks are lightly browned. Cool at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Chill for a minimum of 3 hours before serving

Chicken Florentine

Mom got this recipe from a cookbook created at her work for employee appreciation week last year. This recipe is from Susan Castanette. We had it last night and it was delicious! We served it with rice.


1/4 C butter
1 Tbs minced garlic
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 Tbs Italian seasoning
1/2 c half and half (or cream)
1/2 c grated parmesan
1 bag fresh spinach
8 oz sliced mushrooms
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (or abt 8 tenders)
1-2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Melt butter in saucepan, and stir in garlic soup, seasoning, half and half, and parmesan.
Arrange spinach in 9x13 casserole. Cover with mushrooms and half the sauce. Arrange chicken on top and cover with remaining sauce. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until chicken is done. Top with mozzarella for last 10 minutes of baking. Serve!

Cinnamon Rolls

This is a little different than the recipe mom makes. I like this one a little more for cinnamon rolls because they are a little softer than the brioche recipe. I got this recipe from Kyle.

Dough: 
2 pkg (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast 
1 cup plus 2 Tbs sugar, divided 
1 1/2 cups warm water (110* to 115*) divided 
1 cup milk 
1/2 cup soft butter 
2 eggs 
2 tsp salt 
8-9 cups flour 

Filling: 
1/2 cup butter 
1 cup brown sugar 
5 tsp cinnamon 

Frosting: 
2 oz cream cheese 
1/4 cup butter 
1 cup powder sugar 
2 tsp vanilla (Mexican vanilla is best) 
1/8 tsp almond extract

Directions:
In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast and 2 Tbs sugar in 1/2 cup water. In a saucepan, heat the milk, butter and remaining water to 110*-115*; add to yeast mixture. add eggs, salt, 5 cups flour and remaining sugar; beat until smooth. Add enough of the remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 min. place in a large bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place about an hour. 

At this point if you want to make rolls go ahead and divide into thirds roll; roll each portion into a 14" roll. divide each into 14 pieces. roll pieces into 9" ropes and tie into a knot. place rolls 2" apart on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise until doubled about 30 min. bake at 350* for 15-20 min or until golden brown. Brush with melted butter 

For cinnamon rolls, roll dough out into a large circle, like a pizza. With the soft butter spread over dough until well coated, spread the brown sugar and cinnamon on top of butter. Roll the dough into a log length wise, use either dental floss or sewing thread to cut out rolls. place on a greased baking sheet, let rise about 10-15 min. bake at 350* for 20-25 min or until golden brown, add frosting to rolls while still hot to allow frosting to melt into rolls.
Prep Time: 120 Minutes
Cook time: 25 Minutes

Stuffed Acorn Squash

This was pretty simple to make, but I was surprised at how good it turned out to be. It has pretty simple flavors, but it tastes like the flavors of fall. My squash was pretty big, so each half is big enough for a full meal for me, though I think it would make a good side dish as well.

2 acorn squash
1 1/2 cups wild rice
Juice of 2 oranges and zest
1/3 cup dried apricots or cranberries
1/3 cup chopped almonds
1 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp cinnamon
salt and pepper to taste

Cut squash in halves and clean out insides. Salt and pepper if desired. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, cook rice with 3 cups of water, about 20 minutes until water is gone and rice is tender. Combine rice, dried fruit, almonds, ginger and cinnamon. Add zest of both oranges, and juice of 1 1/2 of the oranges. Add salt and pepper and stir to combine. Once squash is out of the oven, squeeze remaining half of orange over squash. Fill the cavity of the squash with rice mixture. Return squash to the oven and bake for 25 minutes. Take out of oven and serve.

Easy Sweet Potato Coconut Curry

I got the original recipe for this from veganeatsblog.com, but I made a few changes. I like curry, but sometimes the flavor is a little stronger than I like. I think this turned out to be a pretty good balance of flavors. You should try it.

3 tablespoons canola oil
1 cup onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons ginger, finely grated or minced
2 carrots, peeled and sliced diagonally into coins
½ teaspoon mustard seeds (optional)
2 medium or large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks
2 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon tamari (or other good quality soy sauce)
1¼ teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
¼ teaspoon turmeric
Pinch cayenne (more if you want it spicy)
Sea salt, to taste
2-3 cups water
2 cups cooked chickpeas (or 1 can, drained and rinsed)
1 cup coconut milk
1 tablespoon sugar
Juice of one lime juice
1 cup peas
Cilantro, for garnish (optional)
2-3 cups cooked rice

1. In a stockpot or large saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, ginger, carrots, and mustard seeds. Sauté for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring frequently.
2. Stir in the sweet potatoes, potatoes, red pepper, tamari, curry powder, cumin, coriander, turmeric, cayenne, and a good pinch of salt. Sauté together for about 2 minutes, stirring often.
3. Add the water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn heat down to medium-low and cover. Simmer until the root vegetables are tender, about 35 to 45 minutes.
4. Uncover and stir in the chickpeas, coconut milk, and sugar. Heat through while stirring for about 1 minute so that the sugar dissolves.
5. Turn heat off and stir in the lime juice. If needed, season to taste with a pinch more salt. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve with rice.

Millet with Asparagus and Oranges

1 c millet
4 tbs olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
2 oranges, cut in supremes
5 tbs orange juice
2 c boiling water
3-4 tbs toaste walnuts, hazelnuts or pinenuts
1 c asparagus cut into 1 in pieces, steamed
2 tbs fresh basil, minced
2 tbs balsamic vinegar
salt to taste
2-3 tbs hemp seeds (optional)

   Place 1 tbs of oil in 2 qt sauce pan over medium high heat. Add millet and cook, stirring often for 3-5 minutes until seeds turn slightly darker and produce fragrant aroma. Stir in garlic and cook for another minute. Add 1 tbs of orange juice and the boiling water. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook 25-30 minutes until water is absorbed and millet is tender. Transfer to large bowl and set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together remaining oil and orange juice. Add balsamic vinegar, basil and salt. Add asparagus, nuts, oranges, and hemp seeds to the millet. Fold in dressing to combine and serve. Serves 6-8.

Beth's Whole Wheat Bread

As I said in our family newsletter, I have been making bread a lot lately, and I really like Beth's recipe, I just have to find a way to get more honey for cheap -- still trying to work out a bartering system with Jared... we'll see ;-) Since I am heading to SLC, and getting my some help with my computer, I figure a loaf of bread is good payment, right? So, here is the recipe I got from Beth last year:


Whole Wheat Bread

2 packages active dry yeast

2 1/4 cups warm water

3 Tbs sugar

1/3 C margarine

1/3 C honey

1/2 C instant nonfat dry milk powder

1 Tbs salt

4 1/2 whole wheat flour

2 3/4 - 3 1/2 C all-purpose flour

In large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add sugar, margarine, honey, milk powder, salt and whole wheat flour; beat until smooth. Add enough all purpose flour to form a soft dough.Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. 

Punch dough down. Shape dough into traditional loaves or divide into fourths and roll each portion intoa 15 inch rope. Twist two ropes together. Place in greased 9x5 in. loaf pans Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 m inutes. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes. Remove from pans to cool on wire racks.

****Some things I do differently are: I do not end up adding all of the all purpose flour. It seems to be good enough at 2 1/4 cups****

 ****Also because I am trying to be good about studying, not cooking, I use my kitchen aid, and cut the kneading time in half is what it turns out to be about 5 min from when I start adding flower, to when I am done mixing it.****

Pumpkin Dinner

I pretty much love pumpkin dinner. Ashley used to make it when I lived with her, which is when I got the recipe. I get excited when pumpkins start showing up at grocery stores because it means I can make pumpkin dinner. I have also made just the filling and put it in a 13x9 with cut up butternut squash put it on top. It's still pretty good even if isn't in a pumpkin : )

1 onion chopped
1/2 -1 lb ground beef
1 can cream of chicken
2 TBS soy sauce
2 TBS Brown sugar
2 C cooked rice

Clean out pumpkin. Salt and pepper. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Saute onions. Add meat and brown. Drain grease. Add remaining ingredients except rice and simmer 8-10 minutes. Add rice and simmer another 5 minutes. Put mixture in pumpkin and bake for 1 hour at 350.

Black Bean, Sweet Potato and Quinoa Chili

I found this recipe on The Kitchn a few weeks ago. Since finding it, I think Emily and I have made it at least three times. So easy and so good too!

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
5 garlic cloves, chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 14.5-ounce can fire-roasted tomatoes
1/2 pound dried black beans, rinsed well
1 chipotle chile from a can in adobo, minced (I used a little chipotle chile powder instead)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons kosher salt + more to taste
1 1/2 cups sweet potatoes (2-3 small), cut in 1/2-inch cubes
1/4 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
sour cream, to top (optional)
green onions, chopped, to top (optional)
fresh cilantro, chopped, to top (optional)

Heat the oil in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft and beginning to brown, 6-7 minutes. Add garlic, chili powder, and coriander and stir. Cook together for 1 minute.

Stir in the tomatoes with their juices, beans, chipotle pepper, and oregano. Add 5 cups of water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover with lid slightly ajar and simmer until beans are flavorful and tender, anywhere from 2 - 4 hours (depending on the age of your beans).

After 1 1/2 hours of cooking, add the sweet potatoes, quinoa, and salt. Place the pot's lid back on slightly ajar and allow to simmer on low heat until the beans are soft and the sweet potatoes and quinoa are cooked through. Add more water if the chili becomes too thick. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with sour cream, cilantro, and green onion.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

I kept seeing this recipe posted and finally decided to try it- fabulous! Enjoy!



Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies
Ingredients:
1 stick (1/2 cup) margarine
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened pumpkin puree
1 large egg
3 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
Mix together the margarine, shortening, sugars, pumpkin, and egg, beat well. Add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon and mix until well-blended.
Chill dough for about 30 minutes (or cheat like me and throw it in the freezer for about 10 minutes). Roll into balls the size of small walnuts.
In a separate bowl, mix 1/2 cup sugar with 1 Tablespoon cinnamon and 1/2 tsp ground ginger (more or less depending on how you like it). Roll dough balls in sugar mixture until completely covered.
Place dough balls about 2" apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 7-9 minutes until lightly browned, but still soft.
Makes about 4-5 dozen cookies.

http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2011/09/fresh-food-friday-pumpkin-recipes.html

Pistachio Meringue Stack with Rose Cream and Strawberries

   Pleasant Grove is celebrating Strawberry Days this week. Emily and I went and were planning to buy some strawberries so we could make this. Sadly there were no strawberries for sale there. Weird. Strawberry Days severely lacked strawberries. We had been looking at this recipe on Food52 for a couple of months so we decided to make it anyway, and I am glad we did. So so good!


Meringue
6 lg egg whites
pinch of salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar (superfine is better)
1 teas balsamic vinegar
1 cup pistachios, finely chopped

Berries
2 lbs strawberries
2 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs rose water*

Cream
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup mascarpone+
1 Tbs rose water*

Garnish
1 Tbs pistachios, chopped

   Preheat oven to 250 F. Lightly grease 3 baking sheets and line with parchment paper. Draw an 8 inch circle on each (you can use can use a cake pan to trace circles.)
   In a clean metal or glass bowl, whisk egg whites with salt until soft peaks form. Whisk in sugars, one tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vinegar and whisk until mixture is glossy and hold stiff peaks. Gently fold in the chopped nuts.
   Divide the meringue mixture equally between each of the baking sheets. Spread out mixture to the edge of the circle, smoothing the tops with the back of a round spoon. Bake until tops are crisp and dry, about an hour to 1 hour 15 minutes. Turn off oven and leave pans in oven to cool for an hour with the door slightly ajar.
   While meringues cool, slice strawberries. Gently toss with sugar and rose water. Let stand for 1/2 an hour.
   Beat cream and mascapone with the rose water until mixture just holds stiff peaks.
   Invert thecooled meringue discs onto a plate and gently peal off parchment paper. Invert onto another plate so they are right side up. Spread a third of the cream over one of the discs, followed by a third of the strawberries. Repeat layering with remaining meringues. Garnish with the pistachios.

If you wanted to you could make the meringues and assemble it later. Just be sure you wrap them up and keep them in a dry place. They keep for about a week.

* I didn't think the rose water would really matter, but Emily already had a bottle so we used it. It was really good., though I think you could probably add a little vanilla or almond extract to the cream if you didn't want to buy it.
+ When we opened the container of mascapone we bought it was moldy. It was late so we decide to just skip it and used 2 cups of the cream with a little sugar added. I didn't even notice that something was missing when we ate it.

Barley and Chickpea Salad

Ingredients
6 c water
1 1/2 c uncooked pearl barley*
1 can chickpeas, rinsed
2 bell peppers, diced (any color)
1 avocado diced
4 c mixed greens
basil to taste
lemon or lime juice to taste

Bring water and barley to a boil on stove. Reduce heat and cook for 40 minutes. Add bell peppers and chickpeas and cook for 5 more minutes until softened and barley is completely cooked. Remove from heat. Combine the cooked mixture with the fresh basil, mixed greens and avocado. Add lemon or lime juice to taste.

* You could use any whole grain, but you would need to adjust the water accordingly.

Pear Quinoa Spinach Salad

 

1 cup dry quinoa 

2 cups water 

4 cups washed baby spinach leaves 

1 pomegranate, seeded

1 ripened avocado 

1 pear

Bring quinoa and water to a boil on the stove. Reduce heat, cover pan, and let simmer for 10-15 minutes until water is absorbed. (You can also cook the quinoa in a rice cooker. While quinoa is cooking, cut pear and avocado into bite sized pieces. In a large bowl toss warm quinoa and remaining salad ingredients in a large bowl. Add dressing if desired (recipe follows) 

Mustard vinaigrette dressing
2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbs balsamic vinegar
2 TBS stone ground mustard (or whatever mustard you have)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

German Chocolate Cake

I made this cake when my last bishop was released a couple months ago. German Chocolate is his favorite and we threw a party for him. The recipe is from David Lebovitz's website. It's a lot of work, but its really good:)

 For the cake:
2 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
6 tbsp. water
4 large eggs, separated
16 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1½ cups sugar, divided
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract


For the filling:
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup sugar
3 large egg yolks
6 tbsp. butter, cut into small pieces
½ tsp.  salt
1 cup pecans, toasted and finely chopped
1 1/3 cups unsweetened coconut, toasted*


For the icing:
8 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 tbsp. light corn syrup
3 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 cup heavy cream

Directions:
To make the cake, preheat the oven to 350° F.  Line two 9-inch round cake pans with parchment paper.  Butter and flour the sides of the pans; set aside.
Using a double boiler (or the microwave in short bursts), melt the bittersweet and unsweetened chocolate with the water, stirring until smooth.  Set aside until the mixture cools to room temperature.
In the clean, dry bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on high speed until they form soft droopy peaks.  Slowly add ¼ cup of the sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form.  Transfer the egg whites to a separate bowl and return the mixer bowl to the mixer base.
In the bowl the electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter with 1¼ cups of the sugar.  Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.  Beat in the melted chocolate.  Mix in the egg yolks one at a time, scraping down the bowl as needed.
In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Mix half of the dry ingredients into the butter mixture on low speed just until incorporated.  Mix in the buttermilk and vanilla extract until combined.  Mix in the remaining dry ingredients just until incorporated.  Using a rubber spatula, gently fold about a third of the egg whites into the batter to lighten it.  Then fold in the remaining egg whites just until incorporated.
Divide the batter between the prepared cake pans and bake in the preheated oven for about 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Allow to cool in the cake pans for 10 minutes, then remove from the pans and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the filling, combine the cream, sugar and egg yolks in a medium saucepan.  Put the butter, pecans and coconut in a mixing bowl; set aside.  Heat the cream mixture and cook, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom until the mixture begins to thicken and coats the back of a spoon (170-175° F.)  Pour the hot custard immediately into the pecan coconut mixture and stir until the butter is melted.  Cool completely to room temperature.  The mixture will thicken as it cools.

To assemble the cake, cut the two cake layers in half horizontally to yield four layers.  Set the first layer on a cake circle, cut side up. Spread ¾ cup of the coconut filling over the cake layer, making sure to reach the edges.  Set another cake layer on top of the filling.  Repeat  spreading ¾ cup of the coconut filling over each layer, including the top.  Ice the sides of the cake with the chilled chocolate icing.  Pipe a decorative border around the top layer, encircling the coconut topping.

Chana Masala

I got the original recipe from the website kalewithlove.com, but I added and change things a fair amount because I didn't like the acidity level of it.  I think it turned out pretty good after that.

Ingredients   
2 cups chickpeas
1 tablespoon safflower oil or olive oil 
1 pound washed baby spinach 
1 cooked sweet potato, peeled and mashed 
2 washed tomatoes, crushed. 
1/4 cup chopped mushrooms
2 teaspoon cinnamon 
1/2 teaspoon chili powder (I used chipotle chili powder, but you could use whatever) 
3 garlic cloves, diced.  
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes  
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar 
Juice of 1 lemon.

Directions:
1. Place skillet on the stove over medium heat. Add small amount of the oil and the spinach. Cover and stir occasionally, for about 2-3 minutes, until leaves are just wilted. Remove cooked spinach to a plate and set aside for later.
2. In skillet, still over medium heat, add remaining oil plus the garlic and red pepper flakes. Allow to cook for 2 minutes until garlic starts to golden.
3. Add the mashed sweet potato, crushed tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, chickpeas, mushrooms, cinnamon and chili powder . Cook until the chickpeas are fully tender and the sauce is sizzling.
4. Mix in the sautéed spinach and lemon juice. Turn off heat and serve immediately. Serves 6

Mom’s Variation on Shrimp Carbonara Fettuccine

Last Friday night we splurged and went out to dinner at McGrath’s. We both decided on the same thing which was a Shrimp Carbonara. By the time Sunday came, it was just a memory. We had eaten at the branch’s Linger Longer which was sparse. So when evening came, we both wanted something, but nothing too heavy. With the memory of our Friday night dinner, Mom went looking on line for something similar. The following is a combination of that meal and a quick fix for dinner.

Ingredients:

• · 1 medium onion, diced
• · ½ C. sliced mushrooms
• · 8 oz. Fettuccine or other pasta of choice
• · 4 slices cooked bacon, finely diced
• · 1 C. frozen peas
• · ½ to 1 lb. frozen raw shrimp, peeled
• · ½ C. parmesan cheese
• · ½ C. half and half cream
• · Garlic salt to taste
• · Black pepper to taste

Directions:

Prepare pasta according to directions; add frozen peas the last five minutes of cooking. In separate frying pan add 2 tbs. oil, cook onions until tender adding mushrooms and bacon midway through cooking time. Add shrimp to frying pan with onions and mushrooms cooking shrimp until they turn pink. When pasta and peas are done, drain reserving one cup of hot liquid. Stir in half and half and parmesan cheese into hot pasta. If sauce appears to be too thick, gradually add reserved liquid until desired consistency. Stir in cooked onion, mushroom and shrimp and season as desired. (We think McGrath’s had sun-dried tomato in their sauce since it was pink, but we added the mushrooms and onions.)