Hamantashen Poppy Seed Filling

This takes a bit of time to make, but it is worth the effort.

ingredients

1/2 c. poppy seed
1/2 c. orange juice
1 T. margarine
1 T. honey
1/4 c. chopped nuts
Grated rind of 1/4 lemon
2 T. seedless raisins
1 T. sugar
1/2 tart apple, grated
2 T. jam or preserves, any fruit

instuctions

--Combine poppy seed, orange juice, margarine, honey, nuts, lemon rind, raisins and sugar into a saucepan.

--Bring to a boil and cook until mixture is thick.

-- Stir in grated apple and desired jam or preserves.

Makes enough filling for 2-3 dozen hamantashen.

Brown Rice & Cornmeal Pancakes

Despite the brown rice and whole grains, these are light pancakes with just the right amount of substance. Bruce says, “Delicious!”, so you know they’ve got to be good.

Ingredients:

2 cups skim milk

2-3 eggs

3 cups cooked brown rice

1 T baking powder

1t salt

½ c. cornmeal

1 ½ c. flour (I used ½ cup whole wheat and 1 cup white unbleached flour)

½ c. sugar

¼ c. canola oil

DIRECTIONS:

Put rice, egg and milk in a food processor, blend until smooth

Mix in other ingredients – don’t over-mix!

I cooked the pancakes in a no-stick pan with a little bit of butter for flavor.

Curried Cashew Burgers

Seriously, try these. They sound weird but they're awesome. Kind of like falafel but with a nutty texture and curry flavor. Really good! Adapted from this recipe and introduced to me by my good friend Alexis. I like mine with a bit of yogurt and mango chutney, she likes hers with cucumber raita or honey mustard.

Ingredients:

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons water, divided
1 cup diced peeled carrots, (2-4 medium)
1/2 cup red lentils, rinsed
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
3/4 cup raw cashews
6 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 cup chopped onion, (1 medium)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons curry powder
3/4 cup fine dry breadcrumbs or panko
Freshly ground pepper, to taste

1. Combine 2 cups water, carrots, lentils and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Partially cover and simmer until the lentils are tender and falling apart, 12 to 14 minutes. Drain in a colander, gently pressing out excess liquid. Transfer to a plate; let cool to room temperature.
2. Meanwhile, toast cashews in a small dry skillet over medium-low heat, stirring, until golden and fragrant, 2 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate to cool.
3. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, until softened, 5 to 8 minutes. Add garlic, curry powder and the remaining 2 tablespoons water; cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Remove from heat and let cool.
4. Pulse the cashews in a food processor until finely chopped. Add the lentils and the onion mixture; pulse until the mixture is cohesive but still somewhat textured. Transfer to a bowl and stir in breadcrumbs, the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper; mix well.
5. With dampened hands, form the mixture into 1/2-inch-thick patties, using about 1/2 cup for each.
Using 2 teaspoons oil per batch, cook 2 to 4 patties at a time in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until evenly browned and heated through, about 4 minutes per side.

Serves 6.

Baked Potato Soup

Lovely warming soup based on a recipe from Smitten Kitchen. As per her recommendation, I pureed some of the potatoes and left some in chunks which resulted in a great texture while still giving it a bit of a mashed potato feel.

1 head garlic
3 tablespoons butter
2 medium leeks, white and light green parts halved lengthwise, washed, and chopped small
5 to 6 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
2 bay leaves
Salt
2 1/2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/3 cup sour cream or yogurt
Ground black pepper

Rinse the head of garlic to remove any outside grit or dirt. Cut the top third off the head and peel any loose papery skins off the bottom two-thirds. Pop out the garlic clove tips from the top third and mince them.

In a large, heavy pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add leeks and cook them until soft (but not brown), about 5 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook another minute. Add the larger part of the garlic head (whole, not chopped), 5 cups broth, bay leaves and 1 teaspoon salt. Reduce heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Add potatoes and continue to simmer, partially covered, until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.

Discard bay leaves. Remove garlic heads. If you’d like an extra garlic boost to the soup, using tongs or paper towels, squeeze garlic head at root end until cloves slip out of their skins. Using a fork, mash the garlic cloves to smooth paste and add it back to the soup.

Add sour cream or yogurt to soup and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes. Adjust seasonings, adding more salt and pepper to taste. Using immersion blender, process soup until chunky-creamy, leaving lots of potato texture intact. Add up to 1 cup more broth for a thinner soup. Serve with oven-warmed crusty bread.

Serves 4-6

Butternut Squash & Mushroom Empanadas

Not too hard and so satisfyingly good. Adpated from this post on Bella Eats and this recipe from Gourmet.

Filling
2 cups diced (1/4 inch) butternut squash
1/2 cup finely chopped white onion
6 small garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp olive oil
2 (2 to 3 inch) fresh jalepeño chiles, seeded and ribs discarded, finely chopped

Optional: reconstituted dried chiptole pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1 pound fresh exotic mushrooms, trimmed and coarsely chopped (I used a mix of cremini and white)

Empanada Dough
1-1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour
1-1/2 tsp salt
3/4 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 large egg
1/2 cup ice water (more if needed)
1 tbsp distilled white vinegar

Egg Wash
1 large egg beaten with 1 tbsp water

1. Make empanada dough. Sift flour and salt together in a large bowl. Blend in butter with your fingertips or with a pastry blender until mixture resembles course meal with some (roughly pea-size) butter lumps.
2. Beat together egg, water, and vinegar in a small bowl with a fork. Add to flour mixture, stirring with fork until just incorporated (the mixture should look shaggy).
3. Turn out mixture onto a lightly floured surface and gather together, then knead gently with heel of your hand once or twice, just enough to bring dough together. Form dough into a flat rectangle and chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, at least one hour.
4. Make the filling. Preheat oven to 400˚. Combine together the squash, onion, garlic, chile peppers, and mushrooms. Toss with olive oil and a good sprinkling of salt and pepper, and spread in an even layer on a baking sheet. (The Gourmet recipe differs here, boiling and sauteing the vegetables - choose what you like best.) Roast for 25-35 minutes, until the squash is tender and the mushrooms have released their liquid, stirring every 10 minutes or so. Remove from oven and cool in pan on rack.
5. Assemble the empanadas! Keep the oven heated to 400˚. Divide dough into 12 equal pieces and form each into a disk. On a floured surface, roll out one disk into a 6 to 7 inch round. Spoon about 1/3 cup of filling onto center and brush edge of pastry with egg wash. Fold dough in half to form a half-moon, enclosing filling, and press edges together to seal. Crimp edge decoratively and move empañada to a large baking sheet. Make the remaining empañadas using the same method.
6. Lightly brush empanadas with remaining egg wash and sprinkle tops with coarse sea salt. Bake on middle rack of oven until golden, 25-30 minutes.

Double Broccoli Pesto Pasta

A hearty, winter-y take on the classic basic pesto. Adapted from this 101Cookbooks post. Heidi suggests serving this as a side dish, but I added some lightly sauteed chicken and made it into a full meal.

1 medium head of broccoli (about 3 cups), cut into very small florets
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted
1/3 cup Parmesan, freshly grated
1 clove of garlic
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/4 teaspoon + fine grain sea salt
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, more as needed
1/2 pound (8 ounces) dried whole wheat pasta

Bring two pots of water to a boil, one for the broccoli and one for the pasta.

To cook the broccoli, salt the boiling water and add about 3/4 of the broccoli. Cook for just twelve seconds. Drain immediately and run cold water over the broccoli to stop the cooking. Puree in a food processor along with the walnuts, Parmesan, garlic, lemon juice and salt. Drizzle in the olive oil while still blending. Taste, adjust with more salt or lemon juice if needed and set aside. You can add more olive oil or some warm water to thin it out.

To cook the remaining broccoli florets, saute in a skillet with a bit of salt, olive oil, and water until cooked to your liking. Put aside.

To cook the pasta, salt the boiling water generously and add the pasta. Boil until just barely tender. Drain and transfer to a large bowl. Gently stir in about half of the pesto. Taste, add more pesto to your liking. Served topped the broccoli florets and a dusting of Parmesan cheese.

Makes about 6 side servings or 3 main servings.

Bittersweet Hot Fudge Sauce

Hot Fudge Sauce

Since I often make this for a crowd, I've included 2 sets of quantities. This sauce & very good & fudgy. I sometimes add a pinch of salt.

Ingredients

SERVINGS: 6-8	Serving 18-24
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa	2 ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa
½ cup sugar	1.5 cups sugar
¾ cup fat-free milk	2 ¼ cup fat free milk
2 T butter or margarine	6 T butter or margerine
1 t. vanilla	1 Tablespoon vanilla
¼ - ½ t. ground cinnamon	1 t. ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Mix cocoa and sugar in small saucepan
2. Stir in milk and add margarine/butter
3. Heat over medium heat until boiling, stirring constantly
4. Reduce heat and simmer until sauce is smooth and slightly thickened, 3-4 minutes
5. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla and cinnamon.
6. Serve hot/warm or at room temperature.