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December 2014

Luscious Chocolate Truffle Cookies (Addiction Warning) 1024 768 Mari Bickmore

Luscious Chocolate Truffle Cookies (Addiction Warning)

P1030200I don’t care if Christmas is portrayed with lots of snow and people in beanies, coats and scarves, there is something to be said for escaping that and having lots of sun and walks on the beach. Just sayin.’ Christmas lights on palm trees are growing on me. If you like hustle and bustle during the Holidays (holy days for those of you who don’t say Merry Christmas), then SoCal is your place. Try to time your outings so as not to be stuck in traffic for too awfully long. That one can be a bit tricky, though.

I am so happy to be here with all of my children at one time and my two grandchildren too! It is a blessing. It is a lot of cooking too! My plan for Christmas Day is to give everyone a recipe ro prepare. That way no one is stuck cooking all day long, and the day before and the day before that. Namely me. It kind of sucks not to be in my own kitchen right now. I know where everything is and what I have. We are in a rental house and, of course, it does not have everything I need or can find. But we will make it work.

The other day my son brought home some fabulous Chocolate Truffle Cookies from Mrs. Beasley’s in Beverly Hills. Some vendor had given tons of them to the company where he works. I had to figure out how to make them. This recipe is certainly not exact, but at this point I am not sure which I like better. I will have to make them again and buy some more Mrs. Beasley’s and try them side by side. It’s dirty work, but someone has to do it!  They are luscious, scrumptious, melt in your mouth cookies.   Nobody can eat just one.

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Chocolate Truffle Cookies

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups butter, room temperature
2 cups confectioners sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2-1/4 cups all purpose flour (or gluten-free)

UPDATE:  I tried them (inadvertently I might add) with half gluten free flour and the cookie did not hold it’s form correctly, so I do not recommend it
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup cocoa powder (for rolling)
1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar (for rolling)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 325 F
2, Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
3. Cream together butter and sugar in a mixing bowl, adding sugar in slowly.
4. Sift in cocoa powder and salt and mix well on slow.
5. Beat in sour cream (or yogurt) and vanilla extract.
6. Blend in flour on low until no streaks of flour remain.
7. Stir in chocolate chips.
8. Refrigerate the dough for 30-60 minutes.
9. Make 1-inch balls with the cookie dough and the roll in the cocoa powder and place on baking sheet.

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Cookies can be placed fairly close together as they don’t spread much. Do not put on greased cookie sheet as you do not want them to spread. You will not get the desired effect this way.
Bake for 10 minutes. Cookies will just barely be set. Let cool on baking sheet for 3-5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.After about 30-45 minutes, roll them in the powdered sugar until completely coated. Then try not to eat them all at once.

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Mini Red Velvet Whoopie Pies (gluten free option 567 1024 Mari Bickmore

Mini Red Velvet Whoopie Pies (gluten free option

I would like to say that I have everything taken care of for Christmas…everything wrappedwhoopie 8 and Christmas cards sent, and menus made for everyday. However, that would not be true and the Christmas cards will probably get skipped this year, just like the last two years. I have great excuses….injuries, moves, really bad subcontractors. I feel bad about it. Maybe I will send out New Years cards. Maybe. I hope you have all your stuff done, though, and can just sit back and enjoy.
Tomorrow I will pull recipes for seven days while I am with all my children and grandchildren. I am so very thankful that I will be with all of my children for Christmas this year. I know that will not always happen.

A couple of nights ago I went to my first bunco group in years. I only knew two of the ladies. That was the reason I asked one of them to get a group together, so that I could meet some people in my new home. They seem like a great group of ladies and we should have some jolly fun. We all brought a little something to munch on. I tried to stay in a Christmas theme – red and white, plus a twist on a great Southern dessert (red velvet cake).  Yummy!

MINI RED VELVET WHOOPIE PIES

INGREDIENTS:

For the cookies:
2 cups gluten-free flour ( or all-purpose) I use Namaste and won’t vouch for any other brand turning out perfectly
2-1/2 Tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1-1/4 cup firmly packed, light brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk

1 oz bottle red food coloring

For the filling:
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
7 oz jar marshmallow cream

DIRECTIONS:

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.

2. Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.

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3. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar on low speed until just combined. Increase the speed to medium and beat until fluffy and smooth, about 5 minutes.

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4. Add the egg and vanilla, beating well and then add the food coloring and mix well.

4. Mix half of the flour mixture and half of the buttermilk, beatt on low until just incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the remaining flour mixture and remaining buttermilk and beat until completely combined.

5. Grease your hands with a bit of oil, form teaspoon-sized balls and gently flatten down to form a disk onto the prepared cookie sheets.  Try to be as uniform as you can so you will having matching cookies at the end.

whoopie 4These are not very forgiving, so the smoother the balls the smoother the cookie.spacing them at least 2 inches apart. Bake one sheet at a time for about 7-9 minutes each, or until the cakes spring back when pressed gently. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let the cakes cool on the sheet for about 3-5 minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.

While the cakes are cooling, prepare the filling…

1.  In a medium bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter on medium speed.

2.  Add the marshmallow creme and fold into the creamed mixture.

3.  To assemble: Spread or pipe the creme filling onto the flat side of one cake using a knife of spoon, or you can use a pastry bag with a round tip (I used a #12 Wilton tip) to pipe the filling onto the cookie. Top it with another cake, flat-side down. Repeat with the rest of the cakes and filling.

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Simple Yet Elegant Pumpkin Pie Trifle 768 1024 Mari Bickmore

Simple Yet Elegant Pumpkin Pie Trifle

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I’m still on a cinnamon kick!  Trying to remain festive, whilst being without children at home!, so I wanted to make something to put me in the holiday mood.  A dessert that had pumpkin pie flavor but was a more elegant presentation, as I never think a pumpkin pie is very pretty.  This is what I came up with. It’s really simple and looks pretty good in small trifle dish.  Something you can serve to guests that tastes really good and looks good too.   I’m not very good with New Year’s Resolutions, but I hope that I will start working out in January to help me get past this baking kick that I’m on.  Maybe all my new recipes next year will be lite and healthy.  I’m not putting money on that, as I kind of have a love affair with cream and butter.  But who knows…stranger things have happened!

PUMPKIN PIE TRIFLE

You will need pumpkin pie mousse (below), whipped cream (recipe below), a box of gingersnaps (or homemade if you like – I used Nabisco Gingersnaps), and crushed Heath bars or bag of Heath English Toffee Bits.

Mousse

1 envelope unflavored gelatin powder

1 (15-oz.) can pumpkin (not pie filling)

1 cup Bakers sugar (or granulated sugar)

1½ cups well-chilled heavy cream

1-1/2 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp nutmeg

1.  Pour ¼ cup cold water in a small heat-proof bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over it and let sit for 10 minutes for the gelatin to soften.

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2.  In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin and sugar.

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3.  Put the bowl of softened gelatin over a pan of simmering water and cook until the gelatin is clear. (If you have a double boiler you can use that).

4.  When the gelatin is clear, immediately whisk the hot gelatin into the pumpkin mixture.

5.  Using an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the heavy cream until soft peaks form.

6.  Fold the whipped cream into the pumpkin/gelatin mixture and chill for about 3 hours or overnight.

Whipped cream

When you prepare your whipped cream like this it is stabilized, meaning it will last without melting for quite a while!

1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin

4 teaspoons cold water

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar

Instructions:

1.  In a small pan, combine gelatin and cold water; let stand until thick.

2.  Place over low heat, stirring constantly, just until the gelatin dissolves.

3.  Remove from heat; cool (do not allow it to set).

4.  Whip the cream with the confectioner’s sugar, until slightly thick and while slowly beating, add the gelatin to whipping cream.

5.  Whip at high speed until stiff.

Makes about 2 cups of whipped cream.

Gingersnaps:  Break several cookies into small, bite-sized pieces.

Heath bars:  Either crush three heath bars or use a bag of Heath English Toffee Bits which are already crushed.

Now all you do is layer the pumpkin, cookies, toffee bits, whipped cream, pumpkin, and top with whipped cream and toffee bits.

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My first prototype for this recipe I used spice bread that I had put pineapple in (below).  I diced the bread and used it in place of the cookies and put cinnamon ice cream with spiced pecans on top.  It wasn’t quite the pumpkin pie theme I was going for, but it was very good.  I think cinnamon ice cream would work very well on top of the above recipe as well!

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Tis the Season for Cinnamon and There’s Always Room for Ice Cream! 1024 768 Mari Bickmore

Tis the Season for Cinnamon and There’s Always Room for Ice Cream!

EASY! Cinnamon Ice Creamice cream 1

I was in the mall the other day and smelled cinnamon! I knew I didn’t need it, but I figured what the heck I would get a small Cinnabun.  I just knew that’s what that warm aroma had to be!  The food court was upstairs, so up the escalator I went in search of warm, gooey deliciousness.  Turns out there was no Cinnabun or anything else up there remotely cinnamon.  Now I truly believe it was some kind of plug-in Glade or something they were piping in.  There was just the spot in the middle of the mall, underneath the food court, that had that scent and nowhere else.  Just a little something to tickle your taste buds and send you up to the food court.  That was wrong, but it saved me a couple of thousand calories.

Cinnamon does zone in on the holidays; however, it also brings me back to younger years. I had some great friends who I hung out with in Houston back in the day.  We ate out a lot and listened to a lot live music (a lot of Shake Russell).  Oh, those were the days my friend.  One of the best ice cream places in Houston, in my humble opinion, was the Udder Delight, right next door to Marini’s Empanada House (also a fav) located in the lower end of Westheimer.  They made their own ice cream fresh, daily.  Boy does that bring back a floodgate of memories of a lot of good restaurants, or at least I remember them as being great!  But back to the ice cream…one of my favorite flavors at the Udder Delight was the cinnamon. As I was feeling a little nostalgic the other day, and it is near Christmas, I decided to try to replicate that ice cream.  If I do say so myself, I think it turned out darn close,  though a few years have gone by so I might be delusional. Maybe one of my old buddies will make this and let me know if I hit the mark.

I have a small Cuisuinart counter-top ice cream maker.  After I made this ice cream, I ordered the larger, 2-quart  model…because if you are going to make ice cream, you may as well end up with enough to last awhile.  This recipe is so easy and turns out incredibly well.  I used organic cream and 1/2 and 1/2, but it won’t make a difference if you don’t.  It’s just the way we roll.

Ingredients

1 cup ½ and ½

2 cups heavy whipping  cream

1 cup Baker’s sugar (or white granulated sugar)

2 tsp cinnamon (You can adjust this to your taste)

1 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp salt

Instructions

1.  In a medium bowl, mix together ½ and ½, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and salt.ice cream mix

2.  Whisk well and then place in the freezer to chill for a couple of hours.

3.  Place this mixture into an ice cream maker and process until set; about 20 to 30 minutes.

4.  Scoop into a plastic or glass container that you have cooled in the freezer while the ice cream was processing, then freeze for a few more hours or until set.

ice cream to freezer

When I get the larger ice cream maker, I will update with new ingredient amounts.  You can subscribe to this blog just up there on the left!

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Sometimes Rome is More Than You Hoped For (or When in Rome Don’t Necessarily Do As The Romans) 1024 768 Mari Bickmore

Sometimes Rome is More Than You Hoped For (or When in Rome Don’t Necessarily Do As The Romans)

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI figured in the vein of my last unfortunate European altercation with the prostitute in Paris, I would share a story from the eternal city, Rome. I often travel with my cousin and a good friend from Houston….of course they’re from Texas! Two short, busty girls…petite….a blonde and a brunette with big personalities and typically with too much whine…I mean wine. On this particular trip, which was a few years ago, we had another friend with us, and it was our last stop on a long sojourn, and long before we had learned to pack light. But that is a another story for another time. This story is about flashers…wankers…in Rome. Segaiolo. It is a story I have verbally shared many times, but I figure I need to write it down for posterity and hopefully for your entertainment.  Again, always have your camera at the ready, because you never know what you are going to miss.  You would think after these photo op misses, I would have learned something when I got to Paris, but, alas, apparently I am a slow learner.

There are amazing things to see in Rome. I remember the first time I was in Rome with my daughter, then 16, and my cousin. You just walk around a corner and there is the Colosseum, like right in the middle of the city. A landmark you have read about and seen in pictures your entire life, just right there in the middle of everything with no one paying much attention. I was awestruck, and continued to be awestruck for days seeing all those ancient buildings and ruins that I had been entranced by my whole life.  Look up sites in Rome and the list goes on forever. From an early age all my reports were about some archeological site. I considered it as an avocation, but a professor in my freshman year steered me clear, and I will forever be in his debt.  In any event, Rome has ancient sites peppered throughout the city, and I do love sitting in a piazza ristorante people watching, with a 2000-year-old fountain splashing within earshot, and eating some really great Italian food.

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Back to the story: The first night on this particular trip, we were just girls out for a stroll around the city and came upon the Largo di Torre Argentina. When Mussolini was working on Rome in the late 1920s, this archaeological wonder was excavated, revealing extensive multi-level temples that lie 20 feet below the present-day street level. Besides several different temples, Torre Argentina also contains part of the famous Theater of Pompey. This is where Julius Caesar was betrayed and killed in 44 BCE. Today, volunteers at Torre Argentina care for approximately 250 cats, some of Rome’s feral cats of which it seems there are around 300,000 total. Every afternoon people gather to watch the cats on the ancient pillars and steps. If you start to really look into the square you notice the furry, wild felines everywhere. If you are so inclined you can admire the cats and their ruins from street level, volunteer, and even adopt cats (you can’t really take them, but they will take your money to care for them–that kind of adoption; kind of like adopting a kid on TV for 26 cents a day), and I love cats.

We arrived there around dusk and did our tour around the perimeter of the square, up and down the stairs, seeing what we could of the ruins and the cats. As we gathered at the corner of the square, seems like we were on something that elevated us steps above the sidewalk, we were looking down the street alongside the square. At about halfway down the block/square there was a guy looking directly back toward us wagging his Italian sausage for all to see (I just had to throw that terminology in – a friend of mine said it was almost obligatory).  Anyway, I thought I couldn’t be seeing correctly…I mean it was, uh, sizeable.  We all just stared at him in abject astonishment…and he just kept at it. Our friend, who was a first-time traveler with us , was appalled.  I think I was just thinking “wow, what a great story.” I don’t even remember if we left first or he turned to wave at someone else. I don’t even remember what else we did that night. Italians…hey whatev.

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So our trip continued, we saw amazing things and ate amazing food and even stayed in an amazing place. We consistently photobombed in the background of many a photo….don’t judge us. A great week, and we ended it spending Sunday traipsing from church to church…I mean there are over 900 churches in Rome. Probably near 100 of them are over 1000 years old, especially if you take into account buildings/temples that were converted to Catholic churches.  What do we have in America that old?  Well, the sequoia, but even the cliff dwellings in New Mexico are not quite that old.  So I am impressed with the splendor that was Rome.  I am not Catholic, but I truly love these old churches.  The Capuchin church and a few other churches have extensive catacombs and tunnels which are creepy and cool all at the same time. The art, the history, the antiquities, the architecture…the churches here have it all. I could spend days going through them, literally.

This particular Sunday,  we had crisscrossed Rome tracking down the churches we had on our list and some we didn’t. Again, it was getting dusk and we were beat. We walked into the foyer of a small corner church, but people were gathering for a meeting and I decided not to go in. One of the B’s lingered a bit longer just inside the doors, and a little old man in there puckered up and leered at her. She quickly scooted out the door, getting our attention but us not understanding what she was mouthing at us thumbing backwards. But with the way she was moving let us know that something had happened. As we were looking toward her, the old guy saunters out just behind her onto the upper step…of the church…another wanker. Seriously! This guy had to be 70 if he was a day…and we ran. Just like silly schoolgirls, ducking into the first large doorway we see and peeking around it to watch. Can you believe we were tittering, giggling, and he was just slowly moving forward bopping the baloney. And, yea, it was impressive, too. And all those people milling around and going to church? Not even acting like they saw him, totally ignoring the fact that there is an old man playing with his genitalia on the church steps. It was like we were the only ones who saw him. Do you think they sell those big things for unemployed Italian men to waggle at tourists to engender some type of Italian tirly-whirly mystique. Wave them at the ladies so they will go home and spread some urban legend of the Italian version of Wun Hung-lo? We will never know for certain, but on that same trip we saw a couple of fully clothed Italians, in full daylight on the sidewalk, playing with their own private amusement park. Wish I had photos. You just never seem to have to time to get the camera out at a time like that, so if this ever happens to you in Rome could you try to find out for me?  I apologize if this story is a bit off-color, but it is a true story, every single word, and it needed to be told.

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For Thousand Island Dressing Lovers! No Fail Dressing. 1024 756 Mari Bickmore

For Thousand Island Dressing Lovers! No Fail Dressing.

1000 island 2So my husband was complaining that I was trying to kill him lately because I wasn’t having enough salads and veggie-only dinners, so I decided to have a salad for dinner.   Not quite sure this is going to salvage my character though…bacon, eggs, cheese.  However, I did temper those with carrots, spinach, and green beans…oh, and Thousand Island Dressing.  I have had a love affair with Thousand Island since I was a little girl, but we won’t go into how long ago that was.  I have been playing with this recipe for awhile now, and I’m not saying I won’t tinker with it again, but this really works for me now.  I could even use it for a veggie dip and definitely on a sandwich.

1 1∕2 cup mayonnaise
3–4 tbsp.chili sauce, the Heinz type
2 tbsp. finely chopped yellow, Vidalia or sweet onion
2 tbsp. finely chopped sweet pickles
1 tsp. juice from sweet pickles
1 tbsp. chopped, drained, jarred pimientos
1-1/2 to 2 tsp prepared horseradish
dash hot sauce
½ tsp paprika
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to your taste, shouldn’t take much salt at all

This is so easy! Just combine all the ingredients into a medium bowl and stir
until well combined. Dressing will keep, covered, in the refrigerator at least a week.   I have had it refrigerated for at least a couple of weeks.  Other ingredients you might to throw in and play with are:  worcestershire, chopped capers, lemon juice, cream, chopped boiled egg.  If you use your own home–made mayo that is great!

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Best Chocolate Chip Cookies…Ever…Seriously 1024 768 Mari Bickmore

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies…Ever…Seriously

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I can’t believe it is December already!  I mean I just got used to using 2014 and soon it will be 2015.  The years have started on a downhill run and are just zipping by me. But it’s Christmastime!  well close.  Growing up, my mother’s favorite time of year was Christmas.  She put up like a million lights.  That might be somewhat of an exaggeration, but not  by much.  She made Christmas such a magical time for me as child, that nothing I do ever seems to quite live up to my own expectations.  This recipe certainly isn’t a “Christmas cookie”, but I needed to make cookies for a Church Christmas public open house and I wanted a great cookie.  If you want everyone to say your cookie is the best one at the party, this is the one. It is the  New York Times cookie with my slight variations.  I have made a lot of chocolate chip cookies in my life, and played with several recipes.  This is absolutely the best cookie I have ever made.  It does have the slight drawback that the dough has to chill at least 18 hours (they say 24, but I wonder if 12 wouldn’t do it).

It is best to always let your butter and eggs come to room temperature before starting your cookies.  Your butter is not going to blend and get light and fluffy if it is cold.  As always, the better ingredients you use, the better the end result.  I use better quality chocolate, like a Ghirardelli.  Remember, chocolate comes from a bean, so isn’t it technically a health food?

Fabulous Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

2 ½ sticks unsalted butter

1-1/4 cups light brown sugar

1 cup plus 2 tbs sugar

2 cups minus 2 tbs cake flour

1-2/3 cup bread flour

1-¼ tsp baking soda

1-½ tsp baking powder

1-½ tsp coarse salt

2 eggs

2 tsp vanlila

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, grated

10 ounces bittersweet choc chips

sea salt

Instructions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2.  Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

3.  With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes.

4.  Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

5.  Stir in the vanilla.

6.  Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients, about 1/2 cup at a time, and then mix until just combined.

7.  Stir all chocolate into dough using a spoon.

At this juncture I took a fairly small bowl of dough out (for about a dozen cookies) and added about 1/2 cup of coconut into it.  I highly approve of the outcome.  Next time I am going to do that again but add some rolled oats (never use steel cut or instant oats when you do this).

8.  Press plastic wrap against dough, tucked in well to keep it from drying out, and refrigerate for 18 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.  I also put a moistened kitchen towel over the bowl.

9.  When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350º degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Scoop dough with a 1-1/2 Tbsp cookied scooper (for larger cookies use a small ice cream scoop) onto the prepared cookie sheet, then sprinkle lightly with sea salt (optional) and bake until golden brown, but still soft, 10-12 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack to cool.  I always use parchment paper on cookie sheets, it makes for quick and easy clean-up, but you can lightly grease cookie sheets also.

Really, you will love these.  I haven’t tried using my new gluten-free flour, but it has worked on everything else.  I will try it and post later how they turn out. I am concerned about it though, since using these two different types of flour makes the perfect consistency.  As always, I hope you love this recipe and, if you do, let me know!

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Great Greek Pastitsio 1024 768 Mari Bickmore

Great Greek Pastitsio

As far as I’m concerned, this is the Greek version of a lasagna and it gives the same comfort you would get from that.  I probably like it better.

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One of my sons has recently been traveling.  He has now been gone since September 2 and has visited many friends and places all over Europe.  He just left Athens yesterday to work for a couple of weeks in Japan.  Athens was his longest stay, probably almost a month, the last two weeks of which he spent with a family he met there, so he got a good slice of life.  I have a few stories to share as soon as I can pin him down for more details.  He recently told me about the pastitsio that he ate at a nice local restaurant and that made me crave it.  I pulled out this recipe I had made a few years ago, which I knew made a quite tasty pastitsio.  I hope the leftovers last a couple of days!  It made me wish I was sitting in a cheap little taverna somewhere in Greece with friends, probably overlooking the Mediterranean.  Breezy with blue skies, a plate of olives, and some fresh blood orange juice, thinking about visiting some ruins tomorrow…or the next day.

This is not a quick make, but it is not difficult either.  I would start it about three hours before you want to serve, just to give yourself some time.  It would be nice to have an antipasto to serve along with it…I did not for the first day, but think I will run out and get some for tonight!  Don’t forget,  you can make this gluten-free by substituting the all-purpose flour with gluten-free flour and the pasta with a brown-rice or other gluten free pasta, but no matter how gluten-free you make it, you can’t seem to take out those calories.  But now fat is good for you! so hey.

Ingredients

Meat Sauce:

3 Tbps olive oil

1 large yellow onion, chopped (about 1-1/2 cups)

1 pound ground beef

1 pound ground lamb

3/4 cup dry red wine

4 medium to large garlic cloves

1 Tbsp ground cinnamon

1-1/2 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp fresh thyme leaves (or dried)

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 can crushed tomatoes in puree, 28 oz.

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Bechamel:

1 1/2 cups whole milk (not 2%, not skim)

1 cup heavy cream

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 3/4 cups freshly grated Parmesan (you can grate in your food processor, but I typically buy the good freshly grated Parmesan in the better cheeses area)

2 large eggs, beaten

1/2 cup Greek-style yogurt, plain

3/4 pound small shells

Directions

Sauce:

1.  Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a large pot.  Add the onion and saute for 5 minutes.

2.  Add the ground beef and lamb.  Saute with the onions on medium for 8-10 minutes, until it’s no longer pink, crumbling it with the back of wooden spoon until there are no chunks left. Drain off any excess liquid.

3.  Add wine and cook for about two more minutes.

4.  Add the garlic, cinnamon, oregano, thyme, and cayenne, and continue cooking on medium for five  minutes.

5.  Add the tomatoes, 1-1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 40 to 45 minutes. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Bechamel:

1.  Heat the milk and cream together in a medium bowl in the micro about 2-1/2 minutes until it is warm.

2.  In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Add the flour and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly for 2 minutes.

3.  Pour the warm milk and cream mixture into the butter and flour mixture, about a half cup at a time, whisking constantly and blending completely with each addition of milk.  Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, over medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes, until smooth and thick.

4.  Add the nutmeg, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon of pepper.

5.  Stir in 3/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup of the tomato and meat sauce.  Turn off the heat and set aside to cool for 8-10 minutes.  Stir occasionally to release the heat.

6.  Stir in the eggs and yogurt.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling water until al dente. Don’t over-cook because the pasta will later be baked. Drain and set aside.

Stir the pasta into the meat and tomato sauce mixture, then pour the mixture into a baking dish (needs to be larger than a 10×12 casserole dish.  I use a 10 x 16 pan).  pastitsio 2

Pour the bechamel over the meat mixture and spread evenly to completely cover the pasta.  Then sprinkle the remaining 1 cup Parmesan cheese over the bechamel evenly. pastitsio 3

Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, until golden brown and bubbly. Set aside for 10 minutes and serve hot.

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Milano Chicken 1024 768 Mari Bickmore

Milano Chicken

crunchy chicken 2

So Thanksgiving is over and my children and grandchildren have left the premises.  It is soooo quiet, but it is clean.  I could do without the clean to have my granddaughters back!  They did wear us out.  I had forgotten just how much energy the little ones have.  We had to take them in shifts.  I think my husband only lasted about five minutes at a time.  They wanted to play hide-and-seek constantly, sometimes stopping for a Lego break.  Most of the activities in the area for their age were closed for the season.  That was a bad surprise.akina haruka pancakesI will forever complain that they live too far away…but it does give me a place to go when the winter here is too much to bear!  Plus, I can’t complain too much as we will see them soon.  Hoping for warm, sunny weather for Christmastime.

We are finally done with the leftovers.  I was looking for something that wasn’t too heavy and, while it isn’t a salad with lemon juice or steamed veggies, it certainly seemed to fit the bill.  I am going to call it healthy.  It may not meet Cooking Lite criteria, but, hey, there are veggies on top!  I do love a light crunch, so this will remain a staple in my recipe book.  Crunch, along with a nice light sauce and that tart mustard on the side.  If you don’t like mustard, you could definitely leave that off.  I hope you love this dish.  Let me know if you do!

Milano Chicken

Serves 4

6 small to medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1″ pieces.  You could use real baby carrots which would make a lovely presentation (not the fake one’s they form – oh, I guess you could if you really wanted).

1 T white wine vinegar

4 eggs

1 small bunch tarragon, leaves picked

½ cup Dijon mustard

2  large boneless chicken breasts (I haven’t tried it, but I am sure you could substitute turkey or veal for the chicken)

1 cup blanched sliced almonds

1-1/2 cups Rice Krispies (or gluten-free Rice Krispies)

1/2 cup flour (or rice flour or gluten-free flour)

2 T olive oil, plus more for frying

4 T butter, plus more for frying

4 oz. cremini mushrooms, trimmed and halved

½ cup scallions, trimmed, white stems cut into 1″ pieces, and greens thinly sliced

¼ cup dry white wine

2 T capers

Juice of 1 lemon or about 3 Tbsp reconstituted lemon juice.

Salt and freshly ground white pepper

1.  Place the Dijon into a small bowl.  Chop half the tarragon leaves, around 3 Tbsp, and add to the mustard and set aside.

2.  In a medium saucepan bring salted water to a boil, add carrots and simmer until tender, about 3 minutes. Remove the carrots and reserve in a bowl.

3.  Return the water to a boil, add vinegar and place 2 whole eggs in their shell into the pan. Simmer for 8-9 minutes, then drain and peel the eggs under cold running water. Slice into quarters lengthwise.

4.  Cut the chicken breasts in half lengthwise. Place each piece between two sheets of plastic wrap. Using the smooth side of a meat mallet, pound them until they are 1/8 to 1/4-inch thick. Season both sides with salt and pepper.

5.  Crack the remaining 2 eggs into a small bowl, and beat until smooth.

6.  In a food processor, chop the almonds into a fine meal (do not overchop, or they will clump).  My food processor was broken, so I used a pie roller and crushed them (same with the Rice Krispies)  Add the Rice Krispies, and pulse a few times until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs.

7.  Place the flour, beaten eggs, and almond/Rice Krispie mixture  into separate shallow dishes, and season each with salt and pepper.  Working with one piece at a time, dredge the chicken in the flour.  Then dredge it in the egg, and  then dredge in the almond mixture, pressing slgihtly to make sure it sticks to the chicken.

8.  Heat a thin layer of olive oil in a large nonstick sauté pan over medium-high heat, and add two to three pieces of chicken in a single layer. Cook for 3 minutes, or until golden-brown. Turn the chicken over, add 1 T butter, and continue cooking for another 3 minutes, basting the chicken with the butter in the pan. Repeat with the remaining chicken pieces, adding more oil and butter as needed.  Drain off any darkened fat between batches.  Place the chicken on a paper-towel-lined platter and keep warm.

9.  In a medium sauté pan, heat 2 T olive oil over high heat, then add the mushrooms and scallion whites. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and sauté until browned, about 2 minutes. Add the wine, and reduce until almost dry. Reduce the heat to medium, add 3 T butter, and heat until it browns. Add the reserved carrots, the capers, and lemon juice, and swirl to combine.

On your plate, place one piece of chicken and top with some sautéed mushrooms, carrots, and scallion whites. Spoon the pan sauce over and around the chicken. Garnish with two quarters of boiled egg, a few tarragon leaves, and some sliced scallion greens. Serve with the tarragon mustard.

crunchy chicken