Shepherd's Pie

NOTE: This recipe is modified from the one in Edmond's NZ Cookery
(serves 4)

1 onion, chopped (plus celery, cabbage, carrots, etc)
1 lb. ground meat (beef, turkey, mixture....)
2 T flour
1 T tomato sauce or ketchup
1 T chutney or apricot jam
3/4 beef (or chicken) stock
3 potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 T butter
1 T finely chopped onion
1/2 c. grated cheese
salt
pepper

MEAT BASE
Sauté meat until cooked. Drain off fat. Put meat in separate bow.
Sauté onions (and other vegetables) until the onions are clear
Combine cooked meat with sautéed vegetables
Stir in flour and cook for one minute
Add tomato sauce or ketchup and chutney/jam and stock
Bring to the boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes.
Set aside

POTATO TOPPING
Cook potatoes in boiling, salted water until tender
Drain water
Mash potato, adding butter, onion, half the cheese, mixing until smooth & creamy
Season with salt & pepper to taste

PUT IT TOGETHER
Put mince into pie dish
Top with potato mixture
Sprinkle with remaining cheese
Bake at 400 degrees until golden and heated through

ALMOND MACAROONS

These are Kosher for Passover!

Makes about 2 dozen

3 or 4 egg whites
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
2 ½ cups blanched almonds
1 ½ t almond extract
pinch of salt

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats (Silpats).
2. Toast almonds in a skillet over medium heat, shaking the pan frequently until they become fragrant, about 5 minutes.
3. Combine sugar and almonds in food processor fitted with metal blade. Process for about 3 minutes, until it becomes a fine powder. Remove from food processor.
4. Clean and wipe dry food processor. Whip egg whites, salt, and extract together at medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Fold almond mixture into egg whites, turning over and over until incorporated. Batter will sticky.
5. Spoon batter by tablespoons onto prepared pans; cookies will spread to about 3-inch rounds, so leave plenty of room. Bake 1 sheet at a time until cookies are brown around the edges, 9-11 minutes. As soon as cookies come out of the oven, remove paper or Silpat with cookies on it from baking sheet. Let cookies cool completely before removing from paper; use a thin metal spatula if cookies stick.

Caramel Matzoh Crunch

It's almost that time of year...

• 4-6 unsalted matzoh boards or sheets
• 1 cup unsalted butter or unsalted Passover margarine
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed firm
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips or semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 375 Degrees F.

Line a cookie sheet completely with foil. Cover bottom of pan with baking parchment - on top of foil. This is very important as mixture becomes sticky during baking. Line bottom of pan evenly with matzoh boards, cutting extra pieces of matzoh, as required, to fit any spaces on the cookie sheet as evenly as possible.

Combine margarine or butter and brown sugar in a 3 quart, heavy-bottomed, saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Continue cooking 3 more minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and pour over matzoh.

Place in oven and immediately reduce heat to 350 F. Bake 15 minutes, checking every few minutes to make sure mixture is not burning (if it seems to be browning too quickly, remove from oven, lower heat to 325 F, and replace)

Remove from oven and sprinkle matzoh boards immediately with chopped chocolate or chips. Let stand 5 minutes then spread melted chocolate over matzoh. While still warm cut into squares or odd shapes. Chill in refrigerator until set. You can also serve it in confectioners' paper cups as a candy.

Roasted Carrots and Sweet Potatoes

I made this original dish for the potluck on March 18. A big hit!

Carrots and (peeled) Sweet Potatoes, chopped into bold, attractive pieces. Peel the carrots, if not organic.

Enough to fill one-ish layer in a 9 x 13 glass baking dish.

Combine and drizzle over the vegetables, mixing to incorporate:

1/8 - 1/4 C olive oil

spponful of fresh rosemary, finely chopped

large pinch of fresh thyme, chopped

1 T brown sugar

1 T honey

1 t ground garlic (fresh would be good too)

1/2 t cayenne pepper

salt to taste

Bake at 375 until carrots are al-dente and sweet potatoes are soft.

Muhammara

Muhammara is a Syrian roasted-pepper and walnut spread - it's a great alternative to hummus. I found this yummy recipe on a friend's blog, sweetamandine.blogspot.com - she adapted it from Bon Apetit.

1 12-ounce jar roasted red bell peppers, drained
1.5 c walnuts, toasted
3-4 slices of sourdough bread (for 1/2 cup breadcrumbs)
2 cloves garlic
2 T extra-virgin olive oil (plus extra for drizzling)
2 T fresh lemon juice
1 (heaping) t ground cumin
1/2 t sweet paprika
1/4 t cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On one rack, toast walnuts on a baking sheet until fragrant (about 7 minutes). On another rack, toast the sourdough bread.

Grate the toasted bread to produce 1/2 cup of crumbs.

Place all ingredients into a food processor and blend to form a coarse puree. If you want it chunkier, add more crumbs and/or walnuts. If it's too dry, add a bit more olive oil.

Serve with toasted pita triangles.

Ginger Chocolate-Chip Biscotti

I made this recipe for the big meeting of the parents (Boehm/Luberoff + Upton/Cadwell). Great flavors and a good crunch, not to mention very low fat.

Yield: 3 dozen

1 t vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 egg white
2 c all-purpose flour
1 c sugar
1 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/4 t ground cloves
3/4 c semisweet chocolate minichips
2-3 T chopped crystallized ginger

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Combine vanilla, eggs, and egg white in a large bowl; stir with a whisk. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine the flour and next 6 ingredients (flour through cloves) in a medium bowl. Add flour mixture, chocolate minichips, and crystallized ginger to egg mixture; stir mixture until well-blended.
3. Divide dough in half, and turn out onto a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Shape each portion of dough into a 12-inch-long roll; flatten to 1/2-inch thickness. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove rolls from baking sheet; cool rolls for 10 minutes on a wire rack.
4. Cut each roll diagonally into 18 (1/2-inch) slices. Place slices, cut sides down, on baking sheet. Bake 10 minutes. Turn cookies over; bake an additional 10 minutes (cookies will be slightly soft in center but will harden as they cool). Remove from baking sheet; cool completely on wire racks.

Adapted from a Cooking Light magazine.

New Zealand Truffles

These are from the infamous Avonhead Playcentre Family Cookbook from when we lived in Christchurch.

1/2 tin sweetened condensed milk
1/2 teaspoon cocoa
1 packet malt biscuits
vanilla
1/2 cup brown sugar
7 Tablespoons butter
1 packet marshmallows
shredded coconut

Melt sweetened condensed milk, brown sugar, cocoa, butter, and vanilla. Do not boil. Crush biscuits and add to all ingredients except marshmallows. Roll mixture around a marshmallow, then roll in coconut and put into fridge to chill. Wet hands during rolling process is easier. If mixture gets hard to work with, reheat a little bit.