Andes Chocolate Creme de Menthe Cookies

For your consideration in your Christmas baking - I can't decide whether these or the orange chocolate chip cookies are my all-time favorites.  I also made almond macaroons and cranberry streusel shortbread cookies, which were both very good, but not an epiphany.

This one's for Eileen, who insisted I post this on my blog.  These are a dark chocolate cookie with Andes chocolate mints in them.  They're kind of like thin mint cookies, but better because they're crispy and chewy.  I wish I could remember where I got the recipe.  It has been too long.  Originally, I was making a chocolate cookie and adding the andes mints, but I think perhaps I got this off the package.

Andes Chocolate Creme de Menthe Cookies

1/2 c. salted butter
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. sugar
2 t. vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/4 c. flour

1 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1/2 c. cocoa powder (special dark cocoa makes for dramatically dark color)

1 package (10 oz) Andes creme de menthe baking chips

Blend butter and sugars until fluffy, then mix in vanilla and eggs.  Sift dry ingredients together, then stir them into the butter mixture.  Stir in the mints.  Shape in 1 oz. balls (I use a small cookie dough scoop).  Bake at 350 for 8-10  min.  Makes about 3 dozen.

Carrot Soup with Dill Pesto

I know, the title sounds like too much work, but really it's very simple and way worth it.  I finally got around to trying this recipe from our farmer tonight, and I can't even hope to post pictures of the leftovers because we ate every last drop.  So if you have more than 3 people, you'd better make more and allow a little more cooking time.   I expected the dill to have a much stronger taste than it did, but it tasted super fresh and summery and was the perfect compliment to the sweetness of the carrots and onions.  I think I can even give you the recipe from memory.  We had it with some toasted "English Muffin Bread" (a recipe I found on Pinterest which is super easy).  It was a nice warming meal to have in the face of all of this drizzling rain.

Carrot Soup with Dill Pesto

for the soup
2 Tbs. butter
1 onion, chopped
4 large carrots, sliced
1 tsp. dill seed
1 quart chicken or vegetable broth
 for the pesto
1 cup chopped fresh dill
2 Tbs. pinenuts
2 Tbs. olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Saute onion and carrots and dill seed in butter until tender, about 10 minutes.  Add the broth, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook until carrots are very soft, about 30 minutes.  Use a hand blender or transfer in batches to a regular blender and blend until smooth.  Salt and pepper to taste. 

While the soup is cooking, make the dill pesto:  in a food processor finely chop the fresh dill and pinenuts, using on/off and scraping down the sides as necessary.  Slowly drizzle in the oil and blend well, then add salt and pepper to taste. 

To serve, ladle soup into bowls and top with a dollop of dill pesto.

Delicious Everyday Dahl

I make this as an easy side to other Indian dishes.  I suppose it could stand alone with rice, but if I'm just making one dish, I prefer to make the "Curried Vegetables with Dahl" (let me know if you want that one too).  This one is pretty easy.  It needs to cook for about a half hour, but the most time consuming part is chopping the onions. Then you  just dump it all in and let it simmer.  I've been known, in a pinch, to substitute dried onions.  I also sometimes add a bit of coconut milk if I happen to have a little extra from another recipe.  I adapted this recipe from a little book called "Curries Without Worries".  It says it makes 4 servings, but maybe because we're always eating other dishes with it, we get a lot more servings out of this than that.

Delicious Everyday Dahl

1 cup lentils (I use red lentils)
6 cups water
1 dash salt, to taste
3 ripe tomatoes, chopped (or a large can of diced tomatoes)
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbs. fresh ginger, finely chopped (I often add more)
4 Tbs. ghee (I leave this out)
1 tsp. ground turmeric
1 tsp. cumin seed
2 dry hot peppers (I just put in a couple shakes of red pepper flakes)
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

Bring all but the cilantro to a boil on high heat.  Reduce to low, cook until tender.  Red lentils will kind of dissolve.  The cooking time will depend on what type of lentil you use.  Garnish with cilantro.  

Gulf Coast-Style White Rice Pilaf

This rice recipe from Rick Bayless's Mexican Everyday has become a standby for me.  I make it all the time (along with black beans) as an accompaniment to his meat dishes like Chicken Veracruzana and Yucatecan Pork.  In fact, I'm often happy just eating the beans and rice for a meal with just a little good salsa on top.  I don't think I've ever eaten anything like what we call Mexican Rice (you, know, the red rice cooked with tomato & some chiles) in Mexico, though I know there are areas where they do eat that.  So this is the rice side dish I choose.  I got a rice cooker only about a month ago, and I found that it worked just fine on the stove before that, but the benefit of the rice cooker is that it requires a little less checking, doesn't take up a burner on the stove, and keeps at a good temperature and consistency for a longer period of time so it's ready to eat whenever the rest of the food is, which is great for parties.  The original recipe actually calls for baking it in a 350 degree oven for 25 min, but I just cooked it in a covered pot on the stove like I would any rice, so I'll give those directions here. 

Gulf Coast-Style White Rice Pilaf 

Arroz Blanco

1 1/2 Tbs. vegetable or olive oil (I use canola)
1 1/2 cups white rice
1 small white onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 3/4 cup chicken broth (or vegetable broth, for vegetarians)
1 tsp. salt
3 Tbs. coarsely chopped flat-leafed parsley, for garnish

Set a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Add the oil, rice and onion.  Stir frequently until the grains of rice turn from translucent to milky-white, about 5 minutes.  They shouldn't brown.  Add the garlic and stir a few seconds, until fragrant, then add the broth and 1 tsp salt.  Stir a couple of times, the let the mixture come to a full boil.  Reduce the heat to the lowest setting, cover tightly and allow it to simmer for about 20 minutes.  Don't lift the lid until near the very end of the cooking time, when you just lift it enough to test a bit of the rice from the top and middle of the pan (which is the last spot to finish cooking in a pot of rice).  If it isn't done yet, tilt the pan and lift the edge of the rice to make sure there is still enough liquid in the bottom to cook a little longer, add another 1-2 Tbs. of water if it's dry, and put it back on.  You shouldn't ever stir the rice while it's cooking. When it's done, take it off the heat and let it stand about 5 minutes before serving.  Then you can fluff it with a fork and sprinkle it with the parsley for garnish.

For a rice cooker, saute the rice in the saucepan, then scrape it into the rice cooker, add the broth and salt, and let the rice cooker do the rest.

Kale Chips Update

I recently have been using a new recipe for kale chips that works better than my old one.  I have adapted it somewhat here, but the key is that it bakes at a lower temperature so they crisp before they burn and they cook more evenly.  It also has a bit of heartiness from a lovely sprinkling of ground cashews and the tartness of lemon.  Z and I like the nutritional yeast, but C prefers it without.

1 large bunch of kale, washed and dried

3 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp kosher salt
juice from half a lemon
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper, optional

1/3 cup cashews

1 Tbs nutritional yeast, optional

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.  In a large mixing bowl, mix the olive oil, salt, lemon, and cayenne and set aside. Rip the tough stalks off the kale and rip the rest of the kale into pieces. Remember they will shrink a bit in the oven so bigger is typically better. Grind the cashews with the optional nutritional yeast in a food processor or blender or coffee grinder. You want them to be powdery/crumbly, not cashew butter.

Toss the kale in the dressing so that each piece is coated and sprinkle the cashew mixture on the kale, tossing lightly to make sure each piece gets some.  Lay the kale out in a single layer on 2 large baking sheets. Put the cookie sheets in the oven using both racks and set timer for 30 minutes. Every 30 minutes rotate the cookie sheets up/down, back/forth for more even cooking.  After an hour start sampling. They are done when they are crispy, not soggy. This tends to take about 90 minutes for all of them, but I will pull some kale chips off earlier and give other chips more time. Store in an airtight container.

Miso Ginger Carrot Dressing

Fun times for Labor Day. First a last trip to the pool with some friends that included a discounted hotdog at the snack bar and a good laugh at the looks a passing child gave their youngest as she was singing to herself by the side of the pool. Then off to more food and friends with a sushi feast and viewing of the charming and awe-inspiring documentary "Jiro Dreams of Sushi".

This is a delicious, low calorie Japanese style dressing that we like to have on spring greens as a side dish when me make sushi. (You can see the jar in the back of the photo, next to the salad). Sometimes I have a salad the next day for lunch with this dressing and the extra sushi fillings (cucumber, carrot, green onion, avocado, asparagus, tofu, etc. - not the fish). I like to think it counteracts having overeaten the night before.

Miso Ginger Carrot Dressing

1 Tbs. peanut, grapeseed, corn, or canola oil
1/4 c. rice vinegar (not seasoned)
3 Tbs. white miso
1 Tbs. dark sesame oil
2 medium carrots, peeled, in chunks
2 inches ginger, peeled, sliced across the grain
1tsp. sugar

Blend well in a blender until smooth. Makes about 11/2 cups.

Notes: Sometimes I have to add a little water to make it thin enough to blend. The original recipe had 1/4 cup of oil instead of 1 Tbs., but I like it fine without the extra oil.

Moosewood Gazpacho

Here's the other Gazpacho recipe, in case you want to try them both.  

Gazpacho 

from the Moosewood Cookbook

6 servings

4 cups cold tomato juice
1 small, minced onion
2 cups freshly diced tomatoes
1 cup minced green pepper
1 clove crushed garlic
1 diced cucumber
2 scallions chopped
1/4 cup freshly-chopped parsley
juice of 1/2 lemon & 1 lime
1 tsp. honey
2 Tbs. wine vinegar
1 tsp. dried tarragon
1 tsp dried basil
dash of ground cumin
dash of tabasco sauce
1-2 Tbs. olive oil
salt & black pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and chill for at least 2 hours.  Sometimes I chop it all finely, and other times I put it in the food processor.  Both ways are great.