Glazed Anise (Black Licorice) Cookies

Glazed Anise (Black Licorice) Cookies

Ingredients:
 
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar (Granulated)
1 egg
1 tsp of pure anise extract, 1/4… tsp will be used for the glaze
1/8 tsp salt
2 cups of flour (Bob’s Red Mill Pastry Flour is the best)
1 1/2 cup of powdered sugar
3 tbsp of water

Directions:

Beat the butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl with mixer on medium until light and fluffy. Add the egg, 3/4 tsp of the anise extract, and salt; beat until well blended. Stir in the flour. Refrigerate for about an hour until the dough is not as soft. Roll into small balls and flatten them with your hands on a greased pan. Bake at 350 degrees until light brown around the edges, about 12-14 minutes. Remove and let them cool.

Make the glaze: mix the remaining 1/4 tsp of anise extract, water, and powdered sugar. Mix well and pour over the cooled cookies and let set.

Makes about 30-35 depending on the size you make the cookies.

Thanks to Rachel Mills for this recipe!!!

Chocolate Mousse

So when I was making the Berries on a Cloud for my company picnic this past August I was trying to figure out what to do with the egg yolks. I thumbed trough the cookbook and came across this recipe for the mousse. Bingo! I had my recipe. So I decided to make it as well for a church function that I was going to after the picnic. It was a big hit! I hope you like this decadent dessert as much as my friends and I did!

Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients:

4 Large Egg Yolks
¼ Cup Sugar
1 Cup Whipping (Heavy) Cream
1 Package (6-ozs.) Semisweet Chocolate Chips (1 Cup)
1 ½ Cups Whipping (Heavy) Cream

Directions:

1. Beat egg yolks in small bowl with electric mixer on high speed about 3 minutes or until thick and lemon colored.
2. Gradually beat in sugar.
3. Heat 1 cup whipping cream in 2-quart saucepan over medium heat just until hot.
4. Gradually stir at least half of the hot cream into egg yolk mixture, then stir back into hot cream in saucepan.
5. Cook over low heat about 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens (do not boil).
6. Stir in chocolate chips until melted.
7. Cover and refrigerate about 2 hours, stirring occasionally, just until chilled.
8. Beat 1 ½ cups whipping cream in chilled medium bowl on high speed until stiff.
9. Fold chocolate mixture into shipped cream.
10. Pipe or spoon mixture into dessert dishes or stemmed glasses.
11. Refrigerate until serving.
12. Store covered in refrigerator.

Makes 8 servings.

Berries on a Cloud w/ Raspberry Sauce

It was requested by a Facebook friend that I post this recipe after I said I was making it for Thanksgiving. Well, it has taken a week for me to do so but here it is. I first made this back in August for my company picnic. I signed up to bring dessert but had no clue what I was going to bring. So….naturally….I started thumbing through my Betty Crocker cookbook. When I came across this dessert I just knew I had to make. I then searched for a Raspberry Sauce to drizzle over the top of it. It is soooooo good! Enjoy!

Berries on a Cloud

Ingredients:

6 Large Egg Whites
½ Teaspoon Cream of Tartar
¼ Teaspoon of Salt
1 ½ Cups Sugar
2 Cups Whipping (Heavy) Cream
2 Packages (3-ozs. Each) Cream Cheese, softened
½ Cup Sugar
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
2 Cups Miniature Marshmallows
Raspberries, at least 15.
Raspberry Sauce (recipes below)

Directions:

Heat oven to 275-degrees.
Butter rectangular pan, 13×9x2 inches.
Beat egg whites, cream of tartar and salt in large bowl with electric mixer on high speed until foamy.
Beat in 1 ½ Cups Sugar, 1 Tablespoon at a time; continue beating until stiff and glossy. Do not under-beat.
Spread in pan.
Bake 1 ½ hours.
Turn off oven; leave meringue in oven with door closed at least 2 hours.
Beat whipping cream in chilled large bowl on high speed until soft peaks form.
Beat cream cheese, ½ cup sugar, and the vanilla until blended.
Gently fold cream cheese mixture and marshmallows into whipped cream.
Spread over meringue.
Cover and refrigerate at least 12 hours.
Cut into Serving Pieces and put at least one raspberry on each piece.
Store covered in refrigerator.
Top with the raspberry sauce just before serving.

Makes 15 Servings.

Raspberry Sauce

Ingredients:

3 Tablespoons Sugar
2 Teaspoons Cornstarch
1/3 Cup Water
1 Package (10 ozs) Frozen Raspberries in syrup, thawed and un-drained

Directions:

Mix Sugar and Cornstarch in 1-qt. Saucepan.
Stir in water and raspberries.
Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils.
Boil and stir 1 minute.

Basic Dal (aka dahl, daal, daahl, aka Lentil Stew)

This is one of my favourite super easy & quick (30 min, tops) suppers. Throw on a pot of rice before you start, and if you’re feeling adventurous add some cumin seeds and/or tumeric to the rice. Combining lentils with rice is a great way to get protein without eating meat. This recipe is written with some cooking times in mind, i.e. the onion cooks while you chop the pepper.

1. Chop or slice one onion and mince two cloves of garlic, throw them into a pot on medium heat with almost a tablespoon of oil/butter/margarine.

2. Add 1/2 teaspoon tumeric, 1/2 tsp Garam Masala (mixed Indian spices), 1/2 tsp curry powder, 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, 1/2 tsp salt, pepper. (measurements here are approximate, adjust as you like). Stir spices to coat onion.

3. Chop up 1/2 bell pepper, add to pot, stir well.

4. Once onions are translucent, add 1 cup dry red lentils and 2 cups water, stir well. Bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer covered for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

5. If you want, chop up another vegetable like zucchini or tomato, or steam some corn.

6. When the lentil pot reaches a smooth consistencey and most water has been absorbed, add your extra vegetables to the simmering lentils, and add a small amount of water (1-2 tbsp). Simmer on low heat until vegetables are warm.

7. Serve over rice, top with raisins or coconut or toasted nuts as desired.

Date Orange Bread

This is the final recipe that I am posting from the Zen Meditation Camp. They were having a little party following an ordination service and wanted some sweet nut bread. We made Banana Bread and then this recipe. I really liked this one. I don’t usually care for bread with dates in it but this was so good! Enjoy!

Also, just need to give credit where credit is do. These three recipes from the Zen Meditation Camp were given to me by the head cook for the camp. Her name is Laura Fish. I enjoy the experience whenever I get a chance to cook with her and her husband, Jim.

Date Orange Bread

Ingredients:

1 Egg
2 Tablespoons Butter, softened
1 Cup Granulated Sugar
2 Orange Rinds, grated
1 Cup of the Juice from the 2 Oranges (add water to make it the full cup)
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
¾ Teaspoon Salt
½ Cup Walnuts, chopped
1 Cup Dates, chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350-degrees F.
Beat egg slightly.
Add butter and sugar and beat until smooth.
Add rind, juice, and vanilla and stir.
Mix the flour, baking powder, soda, and salt in a separate bowl.
Stir in nuts and dates.
Pour flour mixture over batter and stir to moisten.
Spoon into a greased 9×5x3-inch loaf pan.
Put in the oven and bake for 1 hour.
Bread is done when an inserted knife comes out clean.
Pull out of oven and cool for 10 minutes
Remove from pan and finishing cooling and then wrap.

Makes 1 Loaf.

Hummus

This is another recipe that we use at the Zen Meditation Camp. I love hummus! It is really good on flatbread! This is a great recipe to make for a party!!! Enjoy!

Hummus

Ingredients:

15 Cups Garbanzo Beans
5 Cups Garbanzo Bean Liquid (reserved from garbanzo bean can)
5 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
2 ½ Cups Tahini
15 Garlic Cloves
5 Teaspoons Salt
Bread or Crackers to serve on

Directions:

In food processor, process garlic until minced.
Add the rest of the ingredients, using only about half or so of the reserved liquid at first, then adding more as needed until a smooth and thick but spreadable consistency.
Hummus stores well and may be made a few days in advance.

Serves 30.

Tahini-Garlic Dressing

I am spending the week at Samish Island Community of Christ Campgrounds cooking for a Zen Meditation Camp. All food for the week is vegetarian. I wanted to post some of my favorite things we made this week. This is a salad dressing recipe and is wonderful!

Tahini-Garlic Dressing

Ingredients:

1 ½ Cups Tahini

6 T Canola Oil

¾ Cup Lemon Juice

¾ Cup Water

3 Tsp. Apple Cider Vinegar

6 Tsp. Tamari

3 Garlic Cloves, pressed

¼ Tsp Black Pepper

Directions:

Thoroughly blend all ingredients in a food processor.

Refrigerate.

Makes 30 Servings.

A Recommendation

I know this isn’t a recipe but it is food related. I tried some new jelly this week that is absolutely wonderful and I just had to recommend it to y’all. It is an Organic Pomegranate Jelly from Crofter’s. This is the best jelly I have ever had! If you find it in your local store, you must buy it!

Rhubarb Dream Bars

I grew up with my grandma Lillie baking Rhubarb Custard Pies every Spring/Summer. It quickly became my favorite pie and now that my grandma is gone, eating rhubarb is a very nostalgic experience for me. She shared a house with us and when she passed away I got her studio apartment that we had converted the garage into. This also included a garden out the front door of the apartment that has three rhubarb plants in it. She passed away 2 and half years ago but this is the first Spring that I have harvested the rhubarb.

We are having a potluck at church this Sunday and I wanted to make something that involved the rhubarb. I didn’t want to make a pie as it won’t go as far as other items. So I did a search on www.allrecipes.com. I use this website a lot when looking for recipes. It has a conversion option so you can make something for as many or as few people as you want. It also lets other people make comments on recipes so you can see how it turned out for them. Anyways, while searching I came across this recipe for Rhubarb Dream Bars. They looked good. I decided to do two batches of them for Sunday’s potluck. I made the first batch last night and tried some this morning. THEY ARE WONDERFUL! The second batch is in the oven.

The recipe that I got from All Recipes is below. Just a few notes though. Because I didn’t have enough butter at home I used a ½ Cup Butter and ½ Cup Shortening. Of course, that turned out just fine. For the topping, I used all 3 cups of sugar the first time but it was really sweet. For the second batch I am only using 2 ½ Cups. I ended up having to bake it for 55 minutes because at 35 minutes it was still really runny. So set it for 35 minutes and then check on it every 5 minutes. Also I cut it into 21 (3×7) bars instead of 15 (3×5). Enjoy!

Rhubarb Dream Bars

Ingredients:

CRUST-
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar

1 cup butter, softened

TOPPING-
3 cups white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 eggs, beaten
4 1/2 cups chopped fresh rhubarb

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a medium bowl, mix together 2 cups of flour, confectioners’ sugar and butter until it forms a dough, or at least the butter is in small crumbs.
Press into the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish. (Spray the dish with PAM before putting the crust in)
Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven.
While this bakes, whisk together the white sugar, salt, flour and eggs in a large bowl.
Stir in rhubarb to coat.
Spread evenly over the baked crust when it comes out of the oven.
Bake for another 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until rhubarb is tender.
Cool and cut into squares to serve.

Serves 15.

Shannon is Learning How to Make Casseroles!

I’m not talking about the condensed-soup, or from-the-box kind, I’m talkin’ real-deal, home-made, from scratch, healthy, one-dish, hot meals.

My casserole adventure began with a batch of homemade carrot soup that I added too much cayenne pepper to, it was just too hot to eat straight-up, so I decided to use it as an ingredient in something else, a casserole! So I looked at a bunch of different casserole recipes and discovered several common factors:

1. Thick soup was somehow involved.

2. There was a starch element (potatoes, rice, etc)

3. There were other ingredients, such as vegetables and meat.

4. There was some sort of topping, like cheese or crumbs.

5. Everything got cooked before it all got mixed together and put in the oven.

So I cooked up a mixture of wild and white rice in the rice cooker, sauteed some chicken and vegetables, then mixed it all up, grated cheese on top, and threw it in the oven on a low temperature. The low temperature was my only mistake, it needed a much higher temperature to actually get the heat all the way through that thick mass of food. I kept pulling it out and checking it, frustrated with its failure to heat up quickly. 45 minutes later I turned up the temperature, walked away for 20 minutes, and came back to happily discover a bubbling, steaming casserole! Perfect!

My second attempt (there was a LOT of that soup to use up) wasn’t nearly as good as the first, too many extra carrots added in (the soup really was enough carrotness for one dish), but I am interested in trying again with another creamy, homemade soup.

So there is a bit of insight into how Shannon cooks. Very intuitively, very independently, very experimentally, with a lot of reckless abandon, know very well that in the end, I will eat pretty much anything, so no matter how bad it is, at least I won’t go hungry, and at least I will have learned something new.