New Book

Dill Potato Soup

Once at local German restaurant they had a version of this soup. Hope you enjoy this as much as we do. Two things to keep in mind you may want to add more potatoes and broth for more people. Also we tried golden potatoes but you will definitely have to use more of these little potatoes.

 

Ingredients:

5 or 6	potatoes diced and peeled
2 tablespoons	dill weed clean, chopped
1	medium onion diced
8 ounces	chicken broth
1/4 cup	half and half
3 tablespoons	dill pickle juice
	salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Boil the potatoes till done, then using a masher lightly mash potatoes leaving some lumps. Then add broth to potatoes. In a separate frying pan soften onions until translucent, add dill and let them get fragrant and add them to potatoes. Add half and half and dill juice. Slow till warm. Serve with pickle for garnish.

Twisting Eggless Tiramisu

Normal Eggless Tiramisu

Ingredients

• 1 cup (240 ml; 8 oz) whipping cream
• 1 cup (225 g; 8 oz) Mascarpone cheese
• 2-3 Tbs sugar to taste
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 Tbs amaretto or rum
• 2 1/2 cups (591 ml; 20 oz) strong cold coffee
• 200 g (about 7 oz) ladyfingers
• cocoa for dusting

Instructions

1. Whip cream, sugar and vanilla. Add Mascarpone cheese and amaretto or rum.
2. Pour coffee into a shallow dish. Dip enough ladyfingers in coffee to cover the base of a 6×9 inch (15×24 cm; 4 cups volume) square dish. Add a part of the cream mixture and level out. Repeat layers 1 or 2 times, ending with the cream.
3. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Dust with cocoa before serving.

Twisting the recipe:

Option one: Instead of amaretto or rum cut back on the coffee and add more Tbs of Kalhua or Cinnamon Kalhua

Option two: instead of lady fingers use your favorite sponge cake and slice it thin. With that you can leave out the coffee and add strawberries or cherry’s with a cherry liquor.

 

Option Three: Add cinnamon to the cocoa you dust on the top.

Nutty Snowball cookies

Which ever kind of nuts you prefer you can make these to your liking.

Ingredients

• 2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups any nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, almonds), finely chopped
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup butter (at room temperature)
• Powdered sugar, to coat (about 1 cup)

Method

1 Preheat the oven to 300°F and prepare a large cookie sheet.

2 Put the butter into a mixing bowl and beat until smooth. Add sugar and vanilla. Add all the dry ingredients. Form into small balls and put on parchment sheets.

3 Bake for 35 minutes. When they are still warm, roll the cookies in some powdered sugar. Set aside on a rack to cool completely. When cool, dust again in powdered sugar.

Enjoy these yummy cookies.

A Cherry Morgan

There are some drinks you just make up as you go along in life and this is one of my favorite.

tall glass with ice

1 can cherry Dr. Pepper

1 or 2 shots Captain Morgans Spiced Black Rum

garnish with a cherry.

I think any pirate would enjoy this!

Really Easy Street Tacos

1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of tequila, one bottle of Lawry’s Mesquite Marinade with Lime Juice add this to two chicken breasts sliced. Marinade over night. Next day cook chicken in a frying pan with a little olive oil. Make sure the marinade in also in the pan it will make the chicken moist and tasty.

Use small flour tortillas, homemade pico, cheese and sour cream. Easy and tasty.

Wrong topping?

Well this is a short comment on a cake that shouldn’t have been as bad as it was. Recently at a upscale restaurant we decided to have their black forest cake for dessert. Usually I don’t mind if it doesn’t follow the convention of a traditional black forest cake but in this case I was not happy to find that the granache was used to cover up the fact that the cake layers were not even. There was so much of it that it detracted from what should have been a wonderful cake. Granache impresssed not a traditional cover for this kind of cake and the lack of whipped cream was also a disappointment. Presentation at a nice restaurant is just as important as taste. This was an unfortunate end to what had been a wonderful dinner.

Why wait for Christmas for your favorite cookies. Part 1

Healthy Oatmeal Cookies that disappear quickly. Combination of Quaker Oats Recipe and Alton Brown Recipe.
Ingredients:

• 1/2 Cup(s) (1 stick) plus 6 tablespoons butter, softened

• 1/2 Cup(s) firmly packed brown sugar

• 1/2 Cup(s) granulated sugar

• 2 Eggs

• 1 Teaspoon(s) vanilla

• 1-1/2 Cup(s) Oat Bran

• 1 Teaspoon(s) Baking Soda

• 1 Teaspoon(s) ground cinnamon

• 1/2 Teaspoon(s) salt (optional)

• 2 Cup(s) Quaker^® Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)

• 1 Cup(s) raisins

Preparation:

Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed of electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined oat bran, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add oats and raisins; mix well. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.

Crescent Moon Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 cup Land O Lakes® Butter, softened

1 Land O Lakes® Egg

1 1/2 teaspoons almond flavoring

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

powdered sugar

Preparation:

Combine powdered sugar, butter, egg and almond flavoring in bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. Add flour, cream of tartar and baking soda; beat at low speed until well mixed.

Divide dough into quarters. Cover; refrigerate 1 hour.

Heat oven to 375°F.

Roll each quarter (keeping remaining dough refrigerated) into 4 (10-inch) ropes. Cut each rope into 4 (2 1/2-inch) pieces. Shape each piece into crescent. Place onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes or until set. (Cookies do not brown.)
Sprinkle remaining half with powdered sugar. Store between sheets of waxed paper in covered containers.

Hazelnut Ball Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar, divided
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup finely chopped hazelnut

Preparation:

• Heat oven to 350°F.
• Beat butter, 1/2 cup sugar and vanilla in large bowl with mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually add flour, beating on low speed after each addition until well blended. Add nuts; mix well.
• Shape dough into 48 (1-inch) balls. Place, 1-1/2 inches apart, on baking sheets.
• Bake 14 to 15 min. or until bottoms are lightly browned. Cool 5 min. on baking sheets. Roll warm cookies, 1 at a time, in remaining sugar in small bowl until evenly coated; place on wire racks. Cool completely.

NYTimes: If It’s Chili, It’s Personal

NYTimes: If It’s Chili, It’s Personal
http://nyti.ms/1gndUCV

Chili is a very personal thing. Sometime with beans but without can have its own flavor.

Twist on a Oven Roast.

For the holiday try something different with the oven beef roast.
Take about 1/2 cup of horseradish sauce, add pepper, salt, to suit you.
Mix then spread over the top of the roast.
For a little more spice add some cayenne.
Happy Holidays!