Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (12 oz)

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment or wax paper.

Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.

Beat together butter and sugars in a large bowl with an electric mixer at high speed until pale and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Lightly beat 1 egg with a fork in a small bowl and add 1 3/4 tablespoons of it plus 2 remaining whole eggs to butter mixture, beating with mixer until creamy, about 1 minute. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low and mix in flour mixture until just blended, then stir in chips.

Scoop 1/4 cup batter for each cookie, arranging mounds 3 inches apart, on 2 baking sheets. Flatten mounds into 3-inch rounds using moistened palm of your hand. Form remaining cookies on additional sheets of parchment.

Bake, 1 sheet at a time, until golden, 13 to 15 minutes. Transfer cookies to a rack to cool and continue making cookies in same manner using cooled baking sheets.

Key Lime Pound Cake

1 cup Butter Flavored Crisco
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon lemon zest
3 cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 eggs, room temperature
12 ounces cake flour (3 cups)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup bottled key lime juice

Glaze:
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup butter
3 tablespoons Key lime juice

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour a standard size (12 cup) bundt pan.

In a large mixing bowl, beat shortening, butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Add lemon zest and sugar and continue beating. Beat in vanilla, then one by one, beat in the eggs. Beat in salt. Add flour slowly, stirring by hand until fully incorporated. Stir in key lime juice; Bake for 1 ½ hours. Using a skewer, poke holes in hot cake.

Key Lime Glaze
In small saucepan, combine sugar, butter and key lime juice. Bring to boil. Continue to boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Poke holes in bottom of cake and poor glaze over while it is still hot. Reserve some for after the cake is turned out.

Let cake cool for 10 minutes. Turn from pan and cool completely.

The recipe for the cake comes from Anna at "Cookie Madness".

Panna Cotta

2 ¾ tsp unflavored Gelatin
1 cup whole milk
3 cups heavy cream
½ cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
fresh fruit for serving

In a small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over ¼ cup of the milk and let stand for 5 minutes. This will soften the gelatin.

Place the rest of the milk, cream, and sugar in a 2 quart saucepan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil and remove from hear. Add about a ½ cup of the hot liquid to the gelatin mixture and whisk to dissolve, then pour the gelatin mixture back into the hot milk and cream. Add the vanilla and salt and whisk to combine.

Strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a measuring cup pitcher, from here pour mixture into whatever vessel you want to serve it from. Refrigerate, covered, for at least 5 hours. Can be made a day in advance.

Citrus Variation:
Substitute 1 tsp of orange or lemon oil for the vanilla extract.

Tequila Lime Pie

For crust
1 pie shell, pre-baked.

For filling
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup tequila

2 egg whites
1 tablespoon sugar

Make filling:
Preheat oven to 325°F. Stir condensed milk and next 3 ingredients in medium bowl to blend. Set condensed milk mixture aside.

Using electric mixer beat egg whites with sugar in large bowl until soft peaks form. Using rubber spatula, gently fold 1 1/2 cups condensed milk mixture into whites. Fold remaining milk mixture into whites until just incorporated.

Pour mixture into prepared crust. Bake until filling puffs up slightly and tester inserted into center comes out with some moist filling attached, about 40 minutes. Cool tart completely on rack. Chill until cold, at least 2 hours and up to 8 hours. Garnish tart with whipped cream and lime slices.

Butter Cookies

2 cups plus 2 tbsp cake flour
½ tsp salt
½ lb butter (2 sticks), softened
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 large egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla

Sift together flour and salt on sheet of waxed paper.

Beat butter on high for about 5 minutes, or until pale yellow and fluffy. Add sugar and beat on medium high speed until mixture is very pale and very light, another 2-3 minutes. Scrape down bowl and add egg yolks and vanilla. Beat for 30 seconds or until incorporated. Add the flour and beat slowly at first for about 20 seconds.

Shape cookies for thumbprints, sandwiches, rolled or dropped. Bake at 350 degrees for 7-15 minutes.

Sugar Cookies

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp salt
1 ¼ sticks butter, softened but still firm
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg, room temp
1 tsp vanilla extract

Sift the flour and salt onto a piece of waxed paper, set aside. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugars with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes, scarping the bowl down frequently. Add the egg and beat until incorporated, 20-30 seconds. Add the vanilla and beat another 10-20 seconds, or until incorporated. Scrape the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the flour mixture to the bowl and mix on low speed for about 1 minute, or until fully mixed.

Bake at 325 degrees for 11-13 minutes.

These cookies can either be rolled or made as drop cookies. They need to be refrigerated for 2 hrs for rolling.

Chocolate Variation:

Replace ¼ cup of flour with cocoa powder, and add 2 oz of melted semisweet chocolate with the vanilla.

Citrus Variation:

Replace the tsp of vanilla with a tsp of citrus oil.

Chocolate Truffle Cookies

4 oz unsweetened chocolate
2 C semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided
1/3 C butter
1 C sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 C flour
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 salt
powdered sugar for rolling

In a large saucepan over low heat, melt the unsweetened chocolate, 1 cup of the chocolate chips, vanilla, and butter together; stirring, until smooth ( I do this in the microwave on 50% power). Remove pan from heat; cool for 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar together for 2 minutes with an electric mixer on medium speed. Beat in the vanilla and chocolate mixture.Combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt; add to the chocolate mixture just until combined. Stir in the remaining chocolate chips.

Chill in freezer for 20-30 minutes.

Roll into 1" balls and dredge in powdered sugar. Place 2" apart on ungreased or parchment paper-lined cookie sheets.Bake in a preheated 350*F.oven for 10-12 minutes, or until lightly puffed and set. Cool for 3-4 minutes on the cookie sheets before removing to a wire rack; cool completely.

Graham Cracker Crust

1 1/2 cups (5 oz) finely ground graham crackers or cookies such as chocolate or vanilla wafers or gingersnaps
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt

Stir together crust ingredients and press onto bottom and 1 inch up side of a buttered 24-centimeter springform pan. Fill right away or chill up to 2 hours.

Makes enough for a 24-centimeter cheesecake.

Pecan Pie

1 premade pie crust

For filling
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 cup light corn syrup
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups chopped pecans

Make filling:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk first 5 ingredients in medium bowl to blend. Mix in 3/4 cup pecans. Pour into crust. Sprinkle with 1 cup pecans. Bake pie until set, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Transfer to rack; cool.

Banana Chocolate Chip Bars

1 cup flour
1/2 cup oats
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 banana, mashed
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup pecans, chopped and toasted

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9 inch square pan.

Thoroughly stir together flour, oats, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together melted butter and sugar. Stir in egg and vanilla, followed by banana.

Spread batter in prepared pan for about 33-35 minutes. Let cool completely. Lift from pan and cut into squares.

Fudge Brownies

6 tablespoons butter
1 cup semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips or 6 ounces chopped
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup plus
2 tbsp unprocessed cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8 inch square pan with foil and grease bottom of foil.

In a heavy saucepan, partially melt butter. Stir in chocolate chips and continue to melt over low heat until smooth. Turn off heat. Stir in brown sugar. Chocolate will look grainy. Stir a little of the chocolate mixture into eggs to temper, then stir eggs into chocolate mixture in saucepan. Stir in vanilla, flour and salt.

Pour into pan and bake for 28-30 minutes. Let cool. These are good the same day, but will be even better on day 2.

Makes 16 brownies

NY Cheesecake

1 Graham cracker crust
5 (8-oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
5 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Make crumb crust as directed in separate recipe. Preheat oven to 550°F.

Beat together cream cheese, sugar, flour, and zests with an electric mixer until smooth. Add eggs and yolks, 1 at a time, then vanilla, beating on low speed until each ingredient is incorporated and scraping down bowl between additions.

Put springform pan with crust in a shallow baking pan. Pour filling into crust (springform pan will be completely full) and bake in baking pan (to catch drips) in middle of oven 12 minutes, or until puffed. Reduce temperature to 200°F and continue baking in water bath until cake is mostly firm (center will still be slightly wobbly when pan is gently shaken), about 1 hour more.

Run a knife around top edge of cake to loosen and cool completely in springform pan on a rack. Chill cake, loosely covered, at least 6 hours. Remove side of pan and transfer cake to a plate. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Graham Cracker Crust

1 1/2 cups (5 oz) finely ground graham crackers or cookies such as chocolate or vanilla wafers or gingersnaps
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt

Stir together crust ingredients and press onto bottom and 1 inch up side of a buttered 24-centimeter springform pan. Fill right away or chill up to 2 hours.

Dulce de Leche Sauce

1 cup whipping cream
1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

Combine whipping cream and brown sugar in heavy medium saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Boil until mixture is reduced to 1 cup, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Stir in sweetened condensed milk. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Rewarm over medium-low heat just until warm and pourable.)

Flan


1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons water
4 eggs, separated
1 can condensed milk
1 can evaporated milk
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a saucepan, combine sugar and water, and boil rapidly until a deep amber color. Pour the mixture in the bottom of a 9-inch glass or ceramic pie pan and coat sides. Let cool.

In a bowl, stir egg yolks and then add all the milks and vanilla. Mix batter well. In another bowl, whip egg whites until fluffy, not stiff. Fold whites into batter. Pour mixture into the caramelized sugar-coated pie dish.

Place dish in large roasting pan or baking pan. Add enough hot water to come halfway up sides of pie dish. Bake flan in water bath for 1 hour, until set in center. Let cool, then cover and chill overnight. (Can be made two days ahead. Keep chilled.)

To serve:
Allow flan to come to room temperature. Run a sharp knife around the edge to loosen. Place a serving plate that's slightly larger than the pie pan on top of the pie pan, and flip upside down. Gently remove the pie pan and cut the flan into wedges to serve.

Delicious Rosemary Bread

1 tablespoon white sugar
1 cup warm water
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 tablespoons rosemary
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
3 cups bread flour
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 egg, beaten (optional)

Dissolve the sugar in warm water in a medium bowl, and mix in the yeast. When yeast is bubbly, mix in salt, butter, 1 tablespoon rosemary, and Italian seasoning. Mix in 2 cups flour. Gradually add remaining flour to form a workable dough, and knead 10 to 12 minutes.

Coat the inside of a large bowl with olive oil. Place dough in bowl, cover, and allow to rise 1 hour in a warm location.

Punch down dough, and divide in half. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Lightly grease paper. Shape dough into 2 round loaves, and place on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with remaining rosemary. Cover, and allow to rise 1 hour, or until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Brush loaves with egg. Bake 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

Mirabelle’s Ginger Tart

For dough
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
5 tablespoons cold water

For filling
1 1/2 cups packed golden brown sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

1 Tbsp all purpose flour
3 tablespoons whipping cream
2 tablespoons grated peeled fresh ginger
1 1/2 cups sliced almonds
4 large egg yolks

Make dough:
Combine first 3 ingredients in processor. Add butter, cut in using on/off turns until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add water; blend just until moist clumps form. Knead dough gently until smooth. Cover; chill 20 minutes.

Roll out dough on floured surface to 13-inch round. Fit into 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Trim edges. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line dough with foil. Fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until crust sets, about 15 minutes. Remove weights and foil. Bake crust until pale golden, about 20 minutes longer. Transfer to rack and cool. Reduce oven temperature to 300°F.

Make filling:
Combine first 5 ingredients in heavy large skillet. Stir over low heat until sugar dissolves, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in nuts.
Cool slightly. Add yolks and stir.

Pour filling into crust. Bake until filling looks dry and crusty and center is softly set, about 30 minutes. Increase oven temperature to 325°F. Continue baking until center is set, about 15 minutes longer. Transfer to rack; cool completely. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Bring to room temperature before continuing.) Serve with whipped cream.

Makes 12 servings.
Bon Appétit
Restaurant; Mirabelle, Long Island NY.
November 1992

Viola Rieke’s PfannKuchen

Makes 6 pancakes:

6 Eggs

60g flour (about 6 Tbs)

pinch of salt

375 ml milk (about 1.5 cups)

If you start with the flour and just a little milk, it's easier to avoid flour clumps. At the end, the batter is really liquidy. Pour in a heated pan with some oil or nonstick (just before pouring each pancake, wisk the batter again because the flour sinks to the bottom). The pancakes are quite large (I use a ~10-11 inch pan) and relatively thin. When all liquid is stiff, flip the pancake.

And for real German pancakes, you have to flip them in the air with your pan. I loved that, when my mom or grandma were doing that, especially when it didn't work :-) I think you dogs will love it too.

Lemon – Ginger Pound Cake

For cake
3 tablespoons finely chopped peeled fresh ginger
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons finely grated fresh lemon zest
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

For glaze
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Make cake: Preheat oven to 325°F. Generously butter pan, then flour it, knocking out excess. Chill 10 minutes.

Finely grind together fresh ginger and 1/4 cup sugar in a food processor (mixture will be wet).

Whisk together flour, baking powder, ground ginger, and salt.

Stir together milk and vanilla in a small bowl.

Beat together butter, remaining 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, and zest in a large bowl with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

Alternately add flour and milk mixtures to butter and eggs in 4 batches, beginning with flour and mixing at low speed until each batch is just incorporated. Mix in ginger sugar until just combined, then lemon juice.

Spoon batter into pan, smoothing top, and bake in middle of oven until golden brown on top and a tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes (about 1 hour for loaf pan). Carefully loosen edges with a knife and immediately invert cake onto a rack to cool completely.

Make glaze: Gradually add confectioners sugar to 1 tablespoon lemon juice, whisking until smooth and adding more juice, 1 drop at a time, if glaze is too thick. Drizzle decoratively over top of cake.

* I Double this recipe and it fits nicely into a standard bundt pan.

Makes 6 servings.
Gourmet
April 2001

Risotto

1 tbsp

1 tbsp

½ small white or yellow onion

2 cloves of crushed garlic

1 cup Arborio rice

3 cups chicken broth

½ cup dry white wine

various favorings

In a large sauce pan cook onion in the butter and oil until the onions are soft. Add garlic, cook for 30 seconds or until garlic is fragrant, don’t let it burn. Add the rice and coat with butter and oil. Begin adding the chicken broth ½ a cup at a time. Stir constantly until the rice has soaked up the broth. The broth has been soaked up once there can be a path made through the rice and no liquid fills in the space. Continue with this until all the broth is gone. The rice should be soft and fully soft. Do not use too much liquid the rice will stop absorbing once it is fully cooked. Use the wine as the last liquid installment. The rice should cook thoroughly within 30 minutes.

Turn off heat and stir in cheese, seafood, sausage, vegetables, mushrooms, squid ink, or whatever turns you on. These ingredients should be cooked beforehand.

Andrea

2005

Roasted Veggies

Assorted veggies

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp salt

5-6 grinds of the peppermill

½ tbsp thyme

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash and cut vegetables into bite sized pieces. Place veggies on a baking sheet in a single layer, use just enough olive oil to coat the vegetables, but not enough that there will be a pool of it on the sheet. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the oiled vegetables and toss. Sprinkle thyme over the vegetables. Roast in the oven for 10-12 minutes or until the vegetables have softened but not gotten soggy.

I use bell peppers (red), asparagus, onions, garlic, shallots, carrots, mushrooms, zucchini, summer squash, eggplant, and fennel. Anything that roasts quickly would work. Potatoes would not.

Polenta

1 cup polenta

4 cups of liquid (water, chicken broth, or veggie broth)

1 tbsp butter

salt to taste

Bring liquid to a boil (I use a mixture of chicken broth and water, whatever I have on hand). Add the polenta and bring back up to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 25 minutes stirring frequently. Add the butter once the polenta is creamy and thick.

* Optional*

Add cheese, whatever you have on hand, I used ¼ cup of parmesan and ¼ cup of mozzarella. This recipe makes quite a bit of polenta, about 4 cups.

Polenta Package

2006

Turkey Chili

1 lb ground turkey, can be breast or thighs

1 package of hot taco seasoning

2 15 oz cans dark red kidney beans

2 15 oz cans black beans

2 15 oz cans of diced tomatoes

4 cups water

1 small can of green chiles

1 lb of noodles

Brown meat in a large stock pot until there is no pink left. Drain the meat if needed and add the packet of taco seasoning. Stir in the can of green chiles, the tomatoes, and all beans. Add Noodles and water to cover, cook until noodles are soft, making sure you keep adding water. This should resemble a soupy, camping type chili. Works well in a Dutch Oven.

Anne and Ross

Camping 2005

Chocolate Volcano Cakes

Butter for ramekins
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
2 large eggs
3/4 cup fine sugar
1/2 cup white chocolate chips (I used semisweet)
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
Butter four 2/3-cup ramekins, set aside.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Using a microwave or a double boiler, melt together 3/4 cup of chocolate chips and the butter. Set aside to cool.

In a separate bowl, combine eggs, sugar, flour. Add cooled chocolate mixture, and mix until blended. Fold in white chocolate chips (I really prefer a 1/4 cup of semisweet).

Divide mixture evenly among ramekins and place on baking sheet. Bake until tops are shiny and cracked and chocolate beneath is hot and gooey, about 20 min ( an extra few minutes makes them better). Eat when cooled a bit, remembering that the ramekin and chocolate are very hot.

Lemon Meringue Pie

For filling

1 cup sugar
5 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1/2 cup milk
4 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest

For meringue
4 large egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup sugar

Preheat oven temperature to 350°F.

Make filling:
In a heavy saucepan whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt and gradually whisk in water and milk, whisking until cornstarch is dissolved. In a bowl whisk together egg yolks. Cook milk mixture over moderate heat, whisking, until it comes to a boil. Gradually whisk about 1 cup milk mixture into yolks and whisk yolk mixture into milk mixture. Simmer mixture, whisking, 3 minutes. Remove pan from heat and whisk in butter, lemon juice, and zest until butter is melted. Cover surface of filling with plastic wrap.

Make meringue:
In another bowl with an electric mixer beat egg whites with cream of tartar and a pinch of salt until they hold soft peaks. Beat in sugar in a slow stream, beating until meringue just holds stiff peaks.

Pour filling into shell and spread meringue on top, covering filling completely, sealing it to pastry. Draw meringue up into peaks and bake pie in middle of oven until meringue is golden, about 15 minutes.

Makes one 9- to 10-inch single crust pie.
Gourmet
May 1995

Cheese and Spinach Puff Pastry

12 frozen puff pastry shells, unthawed
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup whole milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 (16 oz) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and sqeezed dry
1 1/4 cups grated fontina cheese
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan
3-5 green onions chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Line a heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange the frozen pastry shells on the baking sheet and bake until the puff and become golden brown, about 20 min. Using small knife, cut out the center of the pastry shells.

Meanwhile, stir the cream, milk, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. Stir in the spinach, Fontina cheese, Parmesan, and green onions. Spoon the spinach mixture into the baked pastry shells. Bake until the pastries are golden brown and the filling is hot, about 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer the pastries to a platter and serve.

Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake

Cake Release
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 tablespoon cocoa

Cake
3/4 cup natural cocoa (Not Dutch)
6 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 teaspoon instant expresso powder (optional)
3/4 cup boiling water
1 cup sour cream, room temp
1 3/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
12 tbsp unsalted butter, room temp
2 cups packed light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 large eggs, room temp
confectioner's sugar for dusting

For the pan
Stir together butter and cocoa in small bowl until paste forms; using a pastry brush, coat all interior surfaces of standard 12-cup bundt pan. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

For the cake
Combine cocoa, chocolate, espresso powder in medium heatproof bowl; pour boiling water over and whisk until smooth. Cool to room temp; then whisk in sour cream. Whisk flour, salt, and baking soda in a second bowl to combine.

In standing mixer fitted with flat beater, beat butter, sugar, and vanilla on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 min. Reduce speed to medium and add eggs one at a time, mixing about 30 seconds after each addition and scraping down bowl with rubber spatula after first 3 additions. Reduce to medium-low speed(batter may appear separated); add about 1/3 flour mixture and 1/2 chocolate/sour cream mixture and mix until just incorporated, about 20 seconds. Scrape bowl and repeat using 1/2 remaining flour mixture and all of remaining chocolate mixture; add remaining flour and beat until just incorporated, about 10 seconds. Scrape bowl and mix on medium-low until batter is thoroughly combined, about 30 seconds. Pour batter into prepared bundt pan, being careful not to pur batter on sides of pan. Bake until wooden skewer inserted into center comes out with few crumbs attached, 45-50 min. Cool in pan 10 min, then invert cake onto parchment-lined wire rack; cool to room temp, about 3 hrs. Dust with powdered sugar.

Cook's Illustrated 2004

Quiche

1 Cup heavy cream
2 large eggs
1 pie crust
salt and pepper to taste

Bake pie crust at 350 degrees for about 9 minutes. You can use fresh or frozen spinach in bite sized pieces, mushroom, broccoli, cheese, bacon, ham, onions, shrimp, avocado, sausage...the options are pretty much endless. Take pre-cooked pie crust out of oven and fill with various ingredients. Mix eggs, cream, salt and pepper into a custard. Pour the custard over the filled pie crust and bake for 35-40 min.

Chicken Marsala

1 3/4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth (14 fl oz)
2 tablespoons finely chopped shallot
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
10 oz mushrooms, trimmed and thinly sliced
1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh sage
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves (2 lb total)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons dry Marsala wine
2/3 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 200°F.

Bring broth to a boil in a 2-quart saucepan over high heat, then boil, uncovered, until reduced to about 3/4 cup, about 20 minutes.

Cook shallot in 3 tablespoons butter in an 8- to 10-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring, until shallot begins to turn golden, about 1 minute. Add mushrooms, 1 teaspoon sage, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid mushrooms give off is evaporated and mushrooms begin to brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from heat.

Put flour in a wide shallow bowl. Gently pound chicken to 1/4 inch thick between 2 sheets of plastic wrap using the flat side of a meat pounder or a rolling pin.

Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper, then dredge in flour, 1 piece at a time, shaking off excess. Transfer to sheets of wax paper, arranging chicken in 1 layer.

Heat 1 tablespoon each of oil and butter in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until foam subsides, then sauté half of chicken, turning over once, until golden and just cooked through, about 4 minutes total. Transfer cooked chicken to a large heatproof platter, arranging in 1 layer, then put platter in oven to keep warm. Wipe out skillet with paper towels and cook remaining chicken in same manner, then transfer to oven, arranging in 1 layer.

Add 1/2 cup wine to skillet and boil over high heat, stirring and scraping up brown bits, about 30 seconds. Add reduced broth, cream, and mushrooms, then simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce is slightly thickened, 6 to 8 minutes. Add lemon juice and remaining 2 tablespoons wine and 1/2 teaspoon sage.

Amy Brooks, Gourmet 2005

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 C butter (softened)

1/2 C sugar

1/2 C brown sugar (packed)

2 eggs

1 1/2 t vanilla

2 1/3 C flour

1 t baking soda

2 1/2 C semi-sweet chocolate chips (a little more than one bag; I like Guittard brand)

Preheat oven to 325 F.

Beat butter, sugar, and brown sugar until very light and fluffy (~3-5 minutes).

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well. Add vanilla.

In another bowl, mix flour and baking soda.

Gradually add to butter-sugar mixture, blending

thouroughly.

Stir in chocolate chips.

Bake on cookie sheets (yes, this is what my recipe says) 11-14 minutes in a 325 F oven.

I use the fancy double-walled cookie sheets, because it makes me feel like a celebrity chef.

Remove and let cool on wire racks or paper towels. Eat as soon as possible.

Serves 1-2.

You can adjust the amount of flour to change the flatness / butteriness of the cookies.

Less flour = flatter and more buttery.

More flour = rounder and dryer, approaching hockey puck suitability.

Tom Brosnan 2006

Karl's Squash Soup
1 medium butternut squash, cooked (~375 for 1 hour when halved)
3-4 cups chicken stock, boiling
1 small onion, white, chopped and cooked in 1 TBSP butter
1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts, chopped (half for the soup, half for topping later)

Blend these 4 ingredients together well, with cuisanart if available.
Adjust stock volume to get soup to desired thickness.
Cook at light simmer for another 1/2 or or more.

When ready to serve, add one pint heavy cream,
and a gentle ammount of white pepper and nutmeg to taste.
Serve with sour cream and hazelnut as toppings.

Chardonnay Vance 2005

Lemon Bundt Cake

Cake:
Grated zest plus 3 TB juice from 3 lemons
3 cups (15 oz) unbleached AP flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. table salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 cup buttermilk, preferably low fat
3 large eggs plus 1 large yolk, at room temperature
18 TB (2 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temp
2 cups (14 oz) sugar

Glaze:
2-3 TB lemon juice
1 TB buttermilk
2 cups (8 oz) confectioners sugar

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees.
Spray 12 cup Bundt pan with non-stick baking spray with flour (or, brush
pan with mixture of 1 TB flour and 1 TB melted butter). Mince lemon zest to
fine paste (2 TB). Combine zest and lemon juice in small bowl; set aside to
soften, 10-15 minutes.

Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl. Combine
lemon juice mixture, vanilla, and buttermilk in medium bowl. In small bowl,
gently which eggs and yolk to combine. In standing mixer fitted with flat
beater, cream butter and sugar at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy,
about 3 minutes; scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula. Reduce to
medium speed and add half of eggs, mixing until incorporated, about 15
seconds. Repeat with remaining eggs; scrap down bowl again. Reduce to low
speed; add about one-third of flour mixture, followed by half of buttermilk
mixture, mixing until just incorporate after each addition (about 5
seconds). Repeat using half of remaining flour mixture and all of remaining
buttermilk mixture. Scrape bowl and add remaining flour mixture; mix at
medium-low speed until batter is thoroughly combined, about 15 seconds.
Remove bowl from mixer and fold batter once or twice with rubber spatula to
incorporate any remaining flour. Scrap into prepared pan.

Bake until top is golden brown and wooden skewer or toothpick inserted
into center comes out with no crumbs attached, 45-50 minutes.

For glaze - While cake is baking, whisk 2 TB lemon juice, buttermilk,
and confectioners' sugar until smooth, adding more lemon juice gradually as
needed until glaze is thick but still pourable (mixture should leave faint
trail across bottom of mixing bowl when drizzled from whisk). Cool cake in
pan on wife rack set of baking sheet for 10 minutes, then invert cake
directly onto rack. Pour half of glaze over warm cake and let cool for 1
hour; pour remaining glaze evenly over top of cake and continue to cool to
room temperature, at least 2 hours. Cut into slices and serve.

Cook’s Illustrated 2006

Beef In Gravy

Take 1 lb of round steak, cut in bite sized pieces. Coat with flour. Heat some oil (enough to cover the bottom of the pan) and brown the floured meat. Add salt, pepper, garlic powder, about 2 tbls. onion and green pepper (mince into little pieces) after the meat is brown. Add 3 cups of water, turn down to a simmer or real low boil and cook for about an hour. If it has not thickened into gravy, you can thicken it with corn starch or butter and flour. If you use olive oil to brown the meat, your gravy will not be real thick. If you use butter, it will be super fattening, but the gravy will thicken on it's own. Make sure you don't let the liquid boil away and if it's getting too thick too soon, just add a little more water. Serve over brown rice.

Mom 2005

Amy's Fettucine

1/2 LB (plus just a little more, but not quite 3/4 LB) egg fettucine
1/2 cup unsalted butter (cut into about 1/2 inch cubes, room temp)
1/4 cup grated parmesano-reggiano (the good stuff makes a huge difference)
2-3 cloves fresh pressed garlic
1/2 LB small peeled shrimp
1/4 LB bay scallops
1 TB olive oil, salt, fresh ground pepper

Start fettucine cookin' in salted water

Saute' shrimp and scallops in the olive oil with the garlic and a few
turns of pepper, adding the scallops first (4 mins) and the shrimp a minute
later (3 mins) - drain all but about 1 TB of the liquid

Drain pasta (reserving 1/2 cup cooking water) and throw it in a big bowl
(heat the bowl first)- drop the butter and cheese on top and then the
seafood and toss through with tongs for about 1 minute, until smooooooooth
and dreamy. Add cooking water as needed to keep it from wadding up, or
"keep it loose" if you prefer. (work fast while doing this)

Fresh pepper on top and salt to taste.

Take leftovers to work and make co-workers drool.

Amy Brooks 2005

Easy Chicken Pot Pie

Cube and cook 2 large chicken breasts

In stock pot, melt ½ cup butter. Add ½ cup flour to make a roux, season with pepper. Stir in 3 cups chicken broth – slowly. When thickened, add cooked chicken and one 16 oz bag mixed vegetables.

Pour into a deep dish pie crust (scored on bottom), stick second crust on top (poke holes on top too). Cook for 25 minutes at 375 degrees.

Sam-n-Scott 2005

Russian Kvass - Cold Cucumber Soup

2 medium sized potatoes, washed and boiled in skins

6 Hard boiled eggs

1 medium cucumber with peal

1 small white onion

4 tablespoons fresh dill

Salt and pepper to taste

2 cups whipping cream

Water

When potatoes and eggs are cooled, peel and grate into large bowl. Grate cucumber and white onion mixing with potatoes and eggs. Add the dill and a pinch of salt, mix. Add one cup of whipping cream and then add water until mixture is covered. Salt if needed, add more cream is needed, can be thick to your specifications. refrigerate.

Anne Buroker (Grandma)

Grandma's Beef Stew

Stew meat cut into small chunks

Several potatoes cut into small chunks

Dredge meat in flour salted and peppered. Brown meat in fry pan. Add water to meat, cover and cook until meat is tender on medium heat. You may have to add water as it cooks to keep meat covered.

When meat is almost done cook potatoes in salted water until done. Add potato water to meat mixture and continue cooking until the potatoes have absorbed the stew juices.

Add minces white onions to the stew meat while it is cooking to fool your unsuspecting granddaughters.

Anne Buroker (Grandma)

Lemon Bars

1 Cup (2 sticks) butter

1 cup sugar

2 cups flour

1 ¼ cups oatmeal (not instant)

Juice of 3 lemons

Zest of 2 lemons chopped fine

Zest of 1 orange chopped fine

1 (14 oz) can of sweetened condensed milk

Cream butter and sugar, then add the flour and oatmeal to make the dough (it will be a little crumbly). Set aside. Stir juice and zest into milk. Set aside. Butter a 9 by 13 inch pan. Press 2/3 to ¾ of the dough into pan. Spread lemon/milk mixture evenly over the top of the dough. Sprinkle the remaining dough (kind of like streusel) over the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes until golden. When cool, slice into 1-inch squares.

Mandarin Quinoa Salad

2 cups cooked quinoa

One 11 oz can mandarin orange segments in light syrup

1 cup salted peanuts

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

1 tbsp sesame oil

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

pinch of salt

pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

¼ cup scallions (optional)

In a large bowl toss together the quinoa, orange segments, peanuts and scallions (optional).

In a small bowl stir together the remaining ingredients including 2 tablespoons of the mandarin orange syrup. Pour over the salad and toss to combine.

Variatoin: Add 2 teaspoons of curry powder to dressing.

1,000 Vegetarian Recipes 1996

Perfect Potato Salad

Strangely enough Robin came to help with a BBQ, and we realized that both her dad's and my mom's potato salad are one and the same!!

12 medium red potatoes

12 hard-boiled eggs

1½ cups mayonnaise

Salt to taste

Rinse the potato skin and remove any eyes or rough patches with a vegetable peeler. Quarter and boil the potatoes in lightly salted water until a fork runs through the large pieces easily. About 20 minutes.

Drain the potatoes and chill at least an hour.

To hard-boil eggs: Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the eggs and bring back to a boil for 1 minute. Turn off heat, cover tightly, and let the eggs cook for 12 minutes. You’ll have perfect eggs with bright yellow yolks!

Chop the eggs and potato into bite-sized pieces. Add the mayonnaise and season with salt.

Note: This salad is great as-is. But feel free to add a dash of one of the following: Celery salt, white pepper, Tabasco, Lawry’s Seasoning Salt, or curry powder.

Judy Buroker and Jeff Gray

Artichoke-Parmesan Dip

1 package of cream cheese, room temperature

1 package of frozen artichoke hearts, thawed

1 cup of mayonnaise

1 cup of shredded fresh parmesan

1 tbsp minced garlic

Mix the ingredients and bake (or microwave) until the cheese is melted and the edges are bubbly. Add a few slices of white cheese (Swiss, provolone, havarti) for extra cheesy dip!