Chocolate Chip Cookies

My friend Kerri made these cookies the other day while the kids and I were at her house.  They were DELICIOUS!  I think the recipe is really interesting - no butter or white sugar are used...although shortening and brown sugar are in abundance!

3/4 cup butter flavored shortening
1 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon real vanilla
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips
1 egg

Heat oven to 375.  Combine shortening, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in large mixing bowl.  Beat at medium speed until well blended.  Beat in egg.  Combine flour, salt and baking soda.  Mix into creamed mixture until blended.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Line the pan with parchment paper.   Drop dough by teaspoon full, 3 inches apart onto cookie sheet.  Bake for 8-10 minutes for chewy cookies or 11-13 minutes for crisp cookies.  DO NOT OVERBAKE.  Makes about 3 dozen.

It works best when you make small cookies. 

Broccoli-Cheddar Soup

Found this recipe in yesterday's Chicago Tribune.  It comes from author Jodi Picoult. I made it for dinner last night and it was very warm and tasty.  Instead of chicken broth I used my homemade vegetable broth that I made using bits of leftover veggies I'd saved in the freezer.

Broccoli-Cheddar Soup

 Ingredients:

3 cups chicken broth
1 onion, chopped
4 cups broccoli, chopped
Dash of garlic powder
1 tsp thyme
2 bay leaves
4 Tbsp butter
4 Tbsp flour
½ tsp salt
2 cups milk
2 cups shredded cheddar
Slices of crusty bread

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan, mix chicken broth, onion, broccoli, garlic powder, thyme, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 10 minutes, or until vegetables are soft.

2. Remove bay leaves and pour mixture into a food processor. Pulse until smooth, approximately 1 minute. Reserve in a bowl.

3. In the original saucepan, melt butter. Whisk in flour, salt, and a little pepper until a thick paste forms. Add milk and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens. Add cheddar; stir until it dissolves.

4. Pour in broccoli mixture and cook until blended. If necessary, add more chicken broth to thin. Season with additional salt and pepper. Serve with bread for dipping.

Mary's Caesar Dressing

We all know and love Papa's Caesar Salad, but here is Mom/Mary's easier spin on the favored classic.  She has made it several times to RAVE reviews!!!

For 1 C dressing:

Juice of 3 limes* or 1/3 cup
1 t kosher salt
2/3 C olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 eggs, coddled
fresh ground pepper
dash Worcestershire sauce
1/4 C minced anchovy fillets (in oil, drained)

Combine lime juice and salt to dissolve salt, set aside. Combine oil, garlic, eggs, pepper, Worcestershire and anchovies.  Whisk juice and oil mixtures and alternately add to/toss salad until lettuce is coated. 

Before dressing lettuce, toss freshly grated Parmesan cheese (use best available) throughout leaves. For 10 servings, which dressing recipe will serve, 1 to 1 1/2 C of cheese is sufficient.

*Can use lemon, but lime is used in original Caesar dressing recipe (of Mexican origin!).

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

This recipe comes from Grandma/Nana/Flo/Mom/Mana.  She said it was one of their favorites more than four decades ago. It is delicious and very similar to a coffee cake available at the Corner Bakery.  She said that the wonderful aroma that fills the house as it bakes is tempting her to try it again!

 

3/4 cup chopped walnuts

3/4 cup sugar

11/2 tsp. cinnamon

Combine in a small bowl and set aside

3/4 cup  butter

1 1/4 cups sugar

3 cups all  purpose flour

1 1/2 cup sour cream

3 eggs

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla 

 

Beat butter with sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, and vanilla, beating well.  Combine dry ingredients and add with sour cream.  Beat well.  Grease 10 inch tube pan spread half of batter in pan. sprinkle with 1/2 of nut mixture . spread evenly with rest of batter and sprinkle with rest of nut mixture.  Bake 60 to 65 minutes at 350 degrees until cake pulls away from side of pan.  Cool completely before removing from pan.

Auntie Mary's Irish Brown Bread

This is Mary McIntyre's authentic Irish brown bread recipe, sent to me a few years ago by her niece Grace Galligan Dunleavy!

Dry ingredients:
1 cup flour
3/4 cups whole wheat flour
2 tbsp oat bran

1 tsp wheat germ

1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbs sesame seeds

Wet ingredients:
1 egg
2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 400 F
Combine dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine wet ingredients.
Using a fork, slowly combine wet and dry ingredients.
Pour into circular cake pan or deep rectangular pan (brown bread is only sold in these shapes in Irish grocery stores!).
Make an X across the top of the batter and sprinkle with more sesame seeds.
Bake until toothpick comes out clean, around 50 minutes.

Amazing accompaniment to tea. Goes great with jam, butter, ham, or cheese. Slainte!

Alexis Strathmann's Corn Casserole

We all know and love Aunt Margie's Corn Casserole, but I thought I would post another one from our friend and almost-sister Alexis.  She made it on Saturday for Meghan's 30th Birthday Celebration and it was delicious along with pico from Caitie, guacamole from Maureen and tacos from Colleen.

To the below recipe, Alexis added onions, red, yellow and orange peppers, sharp white cheddar, and green chilies, but you could really add anything you want.

1 package frozen whole kernel corn
1 can creamed corn
1 box Jiffy Corn Muffin mix
3/4 cup melted butter
2 beaten eggs
2 tbsp sugar
1 cup sour cream

Combine all ingredients together in a bowl and mix together.

Grease a 9 x 9 baking dish (Alexis has used 8 x 8 and a bread loaf pan and both were fine) and pour in mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes. It should start to brown on top when its about ready.

Fish “Psari” Plaki

My Greek friend who shared her Greek roast chicken with us recently passed this fish recipe along. I can't wait to try it out!

Kristy Vahaviolos Kyriakopoulos' Fish “Psari” Plaki

1 large can of whole peeled tomatoes, cut roughly

1 large white onion, cut in long slices

½ cup dry red wine

¼ - ½ cup olive oil

Salt & Pepper to taste

1 teaspoon Oregano

2-3 lbs of a white flaky fish like flounder, cod or tilapia

 

Preheat oven to 375°.  In a Dutch oven, add roughly cut peeled tomatoes (I just take cooking scissors and chop them up roughly in the can), onion, wine, olive oil and seasoning and cook for 1 ½ hours, stirring every 20 minutes or so.  Add fish and cover with tomato mixture.  Cook for 20-30 minutes depending on how thick the fish is. Also, I often use frozen fish (like the kind at Whole Foods) and you can pop the frozen fish fillets in with no need to defrost and it still comes out fabu!  Serve with rice and/or some hunks of country bread and feta on the side.

Variation: Add small potatoes and a small bunch of parsley in the beginning