Chocolate Chunk and Hazelnut Biscotti

The photo is from A Good Appetite

Christmas is coming... and with that comes the delightful time of pouring over my recipe books and searching food sites to find those 'just right' recipes.

I've been thinking about what kind of gifts from my kitchen I'd like to share with people this year. What about biscotti?

So my sis went hunting for some yummy looking recipes. She found this chocolate chunk and hazelnut biscotti over at A Good Appetite. They looks amazing.

Kat, author of A Good Appetite, tells us that she began a holiday baking tradition last year that she found helpful. She'd bake a batch of cookies for each of the eight weeks leading up to Christmas. This gave her a good selection of goodies in time for the holidays, without feeling overwhelmed at making tons of stuff at any one time.

What a great idea, Kat! I've always enjoyed the tradition of opening the little windows on Christmas Advent calendars every day until the BIG DAY arrives. A baking advent sounds just as wonderful.

So go check out the recipe... and Kat's yummy site!

Happy Baking!
Brenda

Beet Borscht

Beet Borscht

4 Tbsp butter or oil
2 carrots, sliced or grated
1 large onion, diced

24 oz can tomatoes, chopped
6 beets, about 2 lbs, grated
1 - 2 small zucchini (or small head cabbage), grated
8 cups chicken stock
1 tsp sugar
4 -6 sprigs of dill, chopped
juice of 1 lemon
2 - 3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper, to taste

sour cream

Melt butter in large saucepan. Add carrots and onions. Cook until soft, but not brown, about 3 - 5 minutes.

Add zucchini, beets, tomatoes, chicken stock, sugar and 1/2 the dill. Mix and bring to a boil. Let simmer about 45 - 60 minutes. Add rest of dill, lemon juice, and vinegar. Season to taste. Serve topped with with a dollop of sour cream. (It tastes great without it too.)

Sloppy Joes, Casserole-Style

This casserole incorporates my all-time favourite Sloppy Joe recipe. I got the Sloppy Joe recipe from a lady I met while living in Venezuela. I had the wonderful opportunity to live there for several months after I graduated from college. And no, the recipe isn't Venezuelan, but that's where I first tasted it, so the two memories are entwined.

Sloppy Joes

4 lbs ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped (use green if you like)

2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp flour
2 Tbsp vinegar
2 Tbsp mustard
salt and pepper to taste
1 family size ketchup (I didn't use that much)
a little water to thin

Saute the onions and peppers. Remove from the pan and saute ground beef until cooked. Return the onions and peppers to the pan. Then add the sugar, flour, vinegar, mustard, ketchup, seasoning, and a little water.

Simmer for about 10 - 15 minutes or until thoroughly cooked. This is great over homemade buns.


Now......if you want a casserole type meal, then cook 2 cups of macaroni and add the cooked pasta to the mixture. Stir together. Bake in a casserole dish at 350F for 25 - 30 minutes or until it's bubbling. If you like, add grated cheddar cheese on top.

Either way it's fast, easy and delicious. Yum! Muy sabrosa

Chicken Barley Soup

My Mom's Chicken Barley Soup

1 tsp oil
2 cups mushrooms, chopped
1 onion, chopped

10 cups chicken stock
2 medium carrots, grated
2/3 cup pearl barley
1/4 - 1/2 tsp thyme or greek oregano, to taste

2 cups diced cooked chicken
fresh chopped parsley
Salt and pepper, to taste

Saute mushrooms and onion in oil until mushrooms are limp, about 5 minutes. While these are saute-ing, in a large pot add the chicken stock, carrots, pearl barley, and thyme or oregano.

Add sauteed mushrooms and onion to the stock mix. Bring to a boil and simmer for 45 minutes. Stir occasionally. Add chicken and parsley and simmer another 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, as desired.

Serves 4 - 5.

Almost Martha's Hot Fudge Sauce

A couple of years ago, I traveled to another city for a week-long conference. I stayed at a friend of a friend's place. Although we'd never met, from the first moments we spent together, my hostess made me feel so welcome in her home.

The most amazing thing was that even though I'd arrived late in evening, she asked me if I'd be interested in a bowl of ice cream with homemade fudge sauce. She was just thinking of making some for herself when I arrived. Sounds good to me, I replied. And it was!!

Here's her recipe (she said it was a Martha Stewart recipe):

Hot Fudge Sauce


1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup light cream
1 1/2 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla

Put everything in a saucepan. Stir with a whisk until well combined. Bring to a boil and let boil for 2 minutes over medium heat. Stir constantly.

* I usually substitute the cream with milk (even skim) and it works amazingly well. Which is good if you need to watch your fat or calorie intake.

We're Thankful!

God is great, God is good
Let us thank Him for our food.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaa-men!

Happy Thanksgiving, Canada

Harvest Fruit Dessert

Harvest Fruit Dessert
(originally from What Cooking magazine, Fall 2008)

Ingredients
1/2 cup non-hydrogenated margarine
1/2 cup sugar, divided
1 cup flour
12 pkg (250 g) cream cheese
1/4 cup maple syrup, divided
1 egg
2 plums, thinly sliced
2 small apples, thinly sliced
1/4 cup ground toasted pecans

Heat oven to 375F. Mix margarine and 1/3 cup sugar until fluffy. Add flour; mix until blended. Press into the bottom and 1 inch up side of 9-inch springform pan.

Beat cream cheese and remaining sugar until blended. Stir in 3 Tbsp. syrup and egg. Spread onto crust. Top with fruit and sprinkle with nuts. Bake 40 - 45 minutes or until center is almost set. Let stand 5 minutes.

Run knife around rim of pan to loosen; cool before removing rim. Refrigerate 3 hours. Drizzle with remaining syrup.

The discovery of a new dish
does more for the happiness of mankind
than the discovery of a star.
~Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

Phantom Rhubarb Muffins

Phantom Rhubarb Muffins
The Best of the Best and More Cookbook

Muffins

1/2 cup fat-free sour cream
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 1/3 cups flour
1 cup diced rhubarb
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Blend together sour cream, oil and egg. Set aside. In another bowl, stir remaining ingredients together and combine with sour cream mixture. Mix just until moistened. Fill muffin pan. (I find this is a 9 muffin recipe, so I increase the recipe by 1/4 to get 12 muffins.)

Topping

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp melted butter

Combine all ingredients and spoon on top of each muffin. Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes. (I also increase this recipe by a 1/4.)

German Beef Stew

To commemorate the celebration of a large family reunion last summer, we compiled a family cookbook. Lots of recipes old and new from our grandparents, parents, aunties, and cousins are now preserved for us and future generations.

Here is my version of one of those recipes. The recipe should actually be made the day before so that flavours meld overnight. But usually we can't wait that long. Still tastes yummy!


German Beef Stew
(Fandrich Family Heritage Cookbook)

2 Tbsp oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 cup onions, diced

Saute garlic and onions in oil until tender. Set aside.


3 lb stew beef, cut into small cubes

Saute beef until brown on all sides. I like to sprinkle a little salt and pepper as it's browning. Then return onions to the pot.

8 1/2 cups beef broth or water
1/4 - 1/2 cup white vinegar (I added 1/4 cup as I found 1/2 too much)
1 Tbsp sugar
1 bay leaf
1 - 2 Tbsp fresh dill, chopped
1 - 2 tsp salt (to your taste)

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer covered for about 1 1/2 hours, or until meat is tender. Twenty minutes before meat is done, add:

2 cups carrots, diced
1 cup fresh beans, sliced
Dill, chopped, (I like to add a little more at this point)

Simmer until veggies are tender. Then add to thicken:

1 - 2 Tbsp flour
1/4 cup cold water

Add to stew and cook about 2 minutes or until thickened.

4 cups cooked potatoes, boiled or mashed (I don't add the potatoes to the stew, I keep them as a side dish to pour the stew over.)

Serve with crusty bread.