My Favorite Recipes

I found another Rick Bayless recipe that rocks.  As a fiftieth birthday present, I received an garden pot full of herbs and on top of the pot a habanero pepper plant.  I used a pepper here and there in some salsa, but soon I had a bumper crop and I needed to use them quickly.  Searching my recipe library, I found this habanero hot sauce which uses a full dozen habaneros in making about two cups of hot sauce.  Now 12 sounds like a lot, but you only use a few drops of the sauce.  What sets this apart from other hot sauces, is the floral character that hits you before the heat gets you.  Keep this in the refrigerator for some kick and pizzaz.

Ingredients

• 5 cloves of garlic, unpeeled
• 1/2 cup peeled, roughly chopped carrot (about 1 medium)
• 1/2 cup chopped white onion (about 1/2 of a small onion)
• 12 medium (5 ounces) orange habanero chiles, stemmed
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp sugar

Procedure

Notes

Try the sauce on the following items:

• Eggs
• Mac and cheese
• tacos
• enchiladas
• Add to some sour cream with lime juice for a topping for mexican food

With my nieces, nephews and kids in college, this cookie has been a huge hit as a part of my annual Christmas gift of a cookie of the month club.  Its great with coffee, or makes a great simple desert for a good Italian meal.  This is base on Gale Gand’s biscotti recipe.  She adds hazelnuts, but generally my friends and family prefer it without the nuts.

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
  
• 1 cup sugar
  
• 1/3 cup blanched whole almonds, toasted
  
• 12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, cut into small chunks with a heavy knife
  
• 2 eggs
  
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  
• 1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
  
• 2 tablespoons almond liqueur (recommended: Amaretto)
• Up to 4 tablespoons water

Procedure

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper or a silpat. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar together. Transfer 1/2 cup of the mixture to a food processor. Add the toasted almonds and grind until fine and powdery, about 45 seconds. Add to the dry ingredients. Add the chopped chocolate and mix.

Whisk the eggs, extracts, and almond liqueur together. Add to the dry ingredients and mix. The dough may seem dry, but it will come together as you work it. If the dough doesn’t come together, add water. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 2 equal pieces. Wet your hands and roll each piece of dough into a flattened log about 10 inches long, 3 inches wide, and 1-inch high.

Transfer the logs to the pan, leaving at least 3 inches between the logs (they will spread during baking). Bake until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating the pan after 15 minutes to ensure even baking.

Let cool 30 minutes.

Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees. Carefully transfer the logs to a cutting board. Wipe off the sheet pan and grease it again.

Using a serrated knife, cut the logs on the diagonal into 1/2-inch-thick slices, discarding the ends. Arrange the slices cut side up on the sheet pan. Bake until toasted, 20 to 25 minutes. Turn the oven off, prop the oven door open, and let cool completely in the oven to set the chocolate.

Anything rich with chocolate is always a show stopper at a dinner party. This rich cake is only made richer by pouring a velvety chocolate ganache over this rich cake. This is our go to desert for our wine food pairing that we donate for charity. Its paired with either a great desert wine, or taste it with a great Cabernet Sauvignon.

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1 bar (10oz) Scharffen Berger 70% bittersweet chocolate
• 6 eggs
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/8 cup brown sugar
• 3/8 cup cake flour
• 3 Tbl finely grated toasted almonds
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Procedure

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Butter the sides and bottom of an 8-inch or 9-inch spring form pan.  Line the bottom with parchment or waxed paper and flour the pan.

Melt the butter in a double boiler. Chop the chocolate into coarse pieces and add to the butter. It should not get much hotter than 115 degrees F. Set aside.

Separate the eggs and beat the sugars into the egg yolks until just mixed. While the chocolate is still warm, whisk the egg mixture into it, then stir in the flour and the almonds. If the combined mixture has cooled, warm it over low heat, stirring constantly, until it is barely warm.

Warm the egg whites slightly by swirling them in a bowl above a gas flame or over hot water (the whites will beat to a greater volume when warmed). Add the cream of tartar to the egg whites and beat until they look creamy and form rounded peaks. Spread the egg whites over the chocolate mixture and fold them together quickly without deflating the whites.

Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the cake is completely set around the sides, but still has a soft and creamy circle, about 6 inches across, in the center. The cake will rise and crack around the edge and separate from the softer center. The center should wiggle just slightly when you shake the pan gently.

Cool thoroughly in the pan.

To serve the cake, turn it out, peel the paper off the bottom, and drizzle with chocolate glaze (see note) or sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar. The cake keeps very well, if not iced, for three or four days. Do not refrigerate or freeze, just cover the pan with foil until ready to use.

Note

• 8 ounces Scharffen Berger 62% semisweet chocolate
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons sweet butter

Heat the chocolate, cream, and butter in the top of a double boiler. Stir gently until the mixture is completely melted and smooth.  Use lukewarm as a pourable glaze or let stand until thick enough to spread like frosting.  If using as ganache, chill in refrigerator to desired consistency.

This first time I made this soup, I made it for a wine food pairing that we donated for charity.  after tasting during the cooking process, I thought it was too salty, too gritty, too thin, too thick.  You get the picture, so I tinkered with the process until I thought it would pass the minimum taste test.  During the dinner, the soup was the favorite thing of the entire meal and they wanted more.  It just goes to show you that you should taste while you cook.

Ingredients

• 1 lb dried yellow peas
• 8 cups of water
• 1 Tbl Butter
• 1/2 lb salt pork, all one piece
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 stalk of celery, diced
• 1 carrot, diced
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 Bay leaf
• 1 tsp Savory, dried
• salt and pepper to taste

Procedure

Wash and sort peas, looking for any dirt or stones (rare).  Melt butter in a large pot and sweat onion, carrot and celery until soft. Add peas, water, parsley, salt pork, bay leaf, savory and 1tsp of salt.  Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer until peas are tender, about 2 hours, adding more water if needed. Discard the bay leaf.
Now comes the fun part, determining the type of soup you want to serve. Want a thin soup with chunks?  Serve as is, just add salt and pepper to taste.  Want a thicker soup?  Puree a few cups of the soup in a blender and return to the pot, add salt and pepper.  Want a thick soup?  Puree all the soup and add salt and pepper.  Soup too thick?  Strain and then add some cream, then season with salt and pepper.  See, its easy to make one recipe and easily make it the kind of soup you want it too be.

I know oatmeal sounds like a simple boring recipe.  Many people just open a packet, add hot water and eat a warm breakfast.  But when I challenged myself to have a different breakfast each day, a search for a great easy bowl of oatmeal was my quest for my Saturday morning breakfast.  First was figuring out which type of oatmeal to use.  Steel cut oats beat out the rolled oats for both flavor and texture.  But steel cut oats take a long time to cook until I found Quick and Easy steel cut oats, which cooks in five minutes, instead of 30 minutes.  Next I experimented with the liquids.  Water was too boring, milk was to creamy.  I settled on a mixture of 1/3 whole milk and 2/3 water.  The whole milk adding enough fat to enrich the oatmeal.  The last challenge was how to extract the full flavor of the oats.  For a while I toasted the oats in the pot with some melted butter, but I tried toasted the oats in the oven and voila, I had the perfect oatmeal for breakfast.  I challenge you to make a cup of two next Saturday and I guarantee you will have a great day.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup McCann’s Quick and Easy Steel Cut Oats
• 1/3 cup whole milk (See Note)
• 2/3 cup water
• 1/4 tsp salt

Procedure