Perfect Panna Cotta – Guest Post by Barbara Schieving

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Marilyn

I am fortunate to have many friends who are also amazingly talented cooks. Today – I’m thrilled to have the founder and head chef of Pressure Cooking Today and Barbara Bakes – the lovely and talented Barbara Schieving – share one of her favorite stories and recipes.  I am sharing my own blog post on her Pressure Cooking Today website – my previously posted Lamb Shanks. This time I’ve adjusted it for the pressure cooker!

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Click here to view recipe.

Panna Cotta - Perfect for Valentine's Day!

Panna Cotta – Perfect for Valentine’s Day!

Thanks Marilyn for inviting me to guest post. Marilyn and I have a lot in common. We both love pressure cooking, sharing our adventures in the kitchen, and traveling. When Marilyn asked me to guest post I decide to pick a food I fell in love with while traveling. The first thing that came to mind was panna cotta.

We were staying in Monterroso, in Cinque Terre, Italy; five charming villages set on the cliffs overlooking the sea. We set off early one morning on the train to visit the five towns. We did the hikes between Riomaggiore, Manarola, and Corniglia. We would have hiked further, but it was a bit rainy and muddy, so we took the train to Vernazza.

Cinque Terra

Cinque Terra

There is a little restaurant named Il Pirata Café in Vernazza that was recommended to us, so we stopped in for lunch. The café is run by twin brothers. Lucca was our waiter, and he was very charming, yet a little silly.

After a wonderful lunch, Lucca asked us if we wanted dessert. I told him we were too full for dessert, but he insisted that we should have dessert. So I said okay, I’ll have the orange cannoli. He said no. You do not want the orange cannoli, you want the strawberry slushy with cream. So I smiled and said okay, I’ll have the strawberry slushy with cream. He was right! The strawberry slushy with cream was amazingly delicious!

Later that night after finishing up dinner, nothing on the menu looked good for dessert and my husband suggested we go back to Vernazza for a strawberry slushy. Since there was a train leaving in ten minutes, we rushed to the train station and hopped on the train. I said to my husband we should ask the nice Italian man standing near us if the train was going to Vernazza. The man said “No Vernazza”, “No Vernazza”. We hopped off the train, the doors closed, and it sped off in the other directions.

Luckily, the train we wanted was one rail over and we hopped on, got off in Vernazza and walked up the hill to the Pirata Café. Lucca was outside and we told him we came back for a strawberry slushy. Lucca said no. No strawberry slushy at night!

My husband and I just looked at each other smiled, and said well how about the orange cannoli then. Lucca said no. You do not want the orange cannoli, you want the strawberry panna cotta. So of course we had the strawberry panna cotta. It was our first time eating panna cotta and it was heavenly! Smooth, rich and creamy, and paired with a sweet strawberry sauce.

I’ve tried several panna cotta recipes since then, and this panna cotta is the closest I’ve come to replicating the amazing panna cotta I had that night in Italy. It’s a sensual dessert that would be perfect to share with your sweetheart on Valentine’s Day.

Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta

Ingredients
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1 tablespoon (one packet) unflavored powdered gelatin
  • 3 cups whipping cream
  • 1/3 cup agave or mild honey
  • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract*
  • Pinch of salt
Instructions

Pour the milk into a cold saucepan and sprinkle gelatin evenly over the milk. Let stand for 5 minutes to soften the gelatin.

After gelatin is soften, heat the mixture over medium heat until it is hot, but not boiling, about five minutes, whisking occasionally.

Add the cream, agave (or honey), sugar, vanilla and pinch of salt. Heat, stir occasionally, until the sugar and honey have dissolved 5-7 minutes. Don’t bring the mixture to a boil.

Remove from heat, allow it to sit for a few minutes to cool slightly. Then pour into the glasses or ramekin. (I used heart shaped silicone molds for Valentine’s Day.)

Refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight. Serve with Strawberry Coulis (recipe below).

*You can also use a vanilla bean if you prefer

Strawberry Coulis

 Ingredients
  • 3 cups strawberries, diced*
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon orange zest
  • 2 tablespoons water
 Instructions

In a medium saucepan, combine all the ingredients and bring to a boil. Once it is boiling and the sugar has been dissolved, turn off the heat.

Purée until smooth with an immersion blender or transfer the mixture to a blender and purée until smooth. Strain through a mesh strainer to remove the seeds.

Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or freeze to use at a later date.

*You can substitute frozen strawberries. Thaw after measuring, omit water.

 

 

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Vegetable Dinner – What a Delight!

Posted on February 6, 2013 by Marilyn
A Veritable Rainbow of Broccoli, Parsnips, Carrots & Celery Root

A Veritable Rainbow of Broccoli, Parsnips, Carrots & Celery Root

The other night I had plans to go to a 7:00 PM play with a friend, and we planned to grab a quick, inexpensive dinner nearby so that we could be at the ticket counter will-call right on time. For some reason, at the last minute going “out” to dinner didn’t appeal to me; I’d eaten in restaurants a couple of times during the week and wasn’t excited about any kind of food except my own. Crazy, no?

I proposed that my girlfriend come to my kitchen for a simple meal featuring previously served pot roast with some side dishes that would be quick to put together. She initially protested, crowing on and on about how she didn’t want me to do any work and she wanted us to have a leisurely dinner. After I calmed her down, I explained that for me, making dinner – particularly for the rare friend who doesn’t have food restrictions or issues – is a pleasure.

I looked through my refrigerator. The farmer’s market I religiously attend happens on Sundays, and I still had quite a bit of winter produce from the previous week. So this is what I did:

I filled a three-quart saucepan about 4 inches with salted water and brought it to a boil.

I peeled and cubed some celery root — my absolutely favorite — and added the pieces to the pot, covered, until tender when pierced with a knife, then removed them with a slotted spoon and tossed them in good olive oil and fresh lime juice (lime instead of lemon as I had half a lime rolling around the vegetable drawer).

Using the same water, in went peeled and cut parsnips (about ¼ inch by 2-inch matchstick pieces). I covered the pot again and cooked them until barely tender. Out they came with the slotted spoon and this vegetable was tossed with about 1 teaspoon of butter and smoked paprika.

I turned back to my simmering pot of water to steam fresh organic, unpeeled carrots – they were “ugly carrots”, pieces about two inches-knotty and asymmetrical. After they were al dente I combined them with hazelnut oil and dried dill.

And finally into the water went some broccoli flowerettes, not too much but what I had on hand. These were briefly steamed and kept simple with a touch of oil, salt and pepper.

After I was done, I sipped the veggie water!

The platter you see was almost polished off by the two of us along with reheated slices of pot roast in it’s au naturale gravy. And we started the meal with winter greens (a bunch of arugula, dandelion greens and baby kale) mixed with avocado slices, fresh orange slices , chopped pistachio nuts and toasted sesame seeds. I dressed this with an fresh orange juice, honey-sweetened vinaigrette.

We both loved our home cooked fare and had extra time to catch up with our lives. Start to finish I spent less than twenty minutes making our meal! And doesn’t the veggie platter look pretty?? My friend had never tasted parsnips or celery root, ever and really enjoyed these two new vegetables!

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Tasty Taco Salad

Posted on January 30, 2013 by Marilyn

Click here to view recipe.

Tantalizing Taco Salad!

Tantalizing Taco Salad!

Summer is long gone and with it my craving for Chinese Chicken Salad. Winter, for me, is all about warming soups, greens and hearty grains. You might be surprised, however, to learn that Taco Salad is high on my list of favorite wintertime meals. I know, I know … steaming or sautéing greens is the way to go this time of year, but with beans, brown rice, warming spices…I feel like this is a legitimate lunch or dinner. Plus, it packs super well in a Tupperware container for the airplane if you have a long flight.

I keep the cabbage in a gallon zip lock then have little Tupperware containers or jars or bags of mashed avocado, seasoned ground beef, tomatoes wedges, cilantro, grated cheddar, rinsed black beans, cooked brown rice or quinoa, corn and salsa. I have corn chips in a drawer to crumble on top. I pack a large Tupperware of this on the go with dressing (it doesn’t take much!) and chips on the side and then shake it up right before eating. Feel free to substitute according to what you like on your tacos or burritos.

The only hard part of this salad is chopping up the vegetables. Don’t fool yourself….the dressing really makes this salad sing!

Salad Ingredients

Salad Ingredients

Taco Salad

Makes 4 large or 6 medium-sized salads

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Salad Ingredients:

(Keep each item in a separate container for easy assembly later)

  • 1 lb lean ground beef sautéed with taco seasoning. You can use taco seasoning in a package or use the recipe below*
  • 1 Avocado, mashed with a little lemon juice, salt, chopped tomato and hot sauce
  • 3 Tomatoes – cut in ⅛ wedges
  • ½ cup Cilantro – chopped
  • 1 cup grated Cheddar Cheese
  • Napa cabbage mixed with 3-4 diced carrots and 2 sliced yellow or red peppers
  • 1 ½ cups cooked black beans (canned is fine, just rinse)
  • 1 cup cooked brown rice
  • Sweet corn cut off the cob (enough to get 1 cup of kernels)
  • Pico de gallo or good salsa (think refrigerator part of the deli)
  • Sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
  • 1 cup tortilla chips (crumble in at the end)
Dressing Ingredients:
  • ¼ c lime juice
  • ½ c extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tsp sugar (I add a drop more)
  • 1 Tbsp chili powder
  • ¼ tsp ground cumin
  • salt/pepper to taste
*Taco Seasoning Ingredients
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper

Note: I only use corn in the summertime with this salad. And my tomatoes aren’t bad since they are vine ripened compari tomatoes.

I also make a “burrito bowl” with these ingredients by layering brown rice, beans, tomato, meat, avocado, cheese and cilantro. I just squeeze lime juice on top.

You could stir fry some chicken tenders and season them with taco seasoning just to switch it up a bit.

 

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Marge’s Mandelbrodt

Posted on January 23, 2013 by Marilyn

Click here to view recipe.

Mouthwatering Mandelbrodt

So who is Marge, and why do I love her mandelbrodt so much? And what is mandelbrodt anyway?

OK, let’s begin at the beginning. When I lived on Mercer Island across the lake from Seattle, Marge’s house was directly below ours. She and Matt, her late husband, shared my last name and we used to joke that our relatives from the “old country” were most likely related. Much like my husband, Matt was always on the roof cleaning out the gutters or planting flowers or fixing something, anything. They were true soul mates, and Matt lived well into his 90’s.

Magnificent Marge!

His wife Marge is a native Seattleite and is now 93 years young. In her earlier years, she was a hiker and a skier, and has always been a political activist. She takes care of four great-grandchildren under the age of six, and her house is filled with special toys and foods for the great grandkids. When I moved to Seattle 33 years ago, I was in awe that she lifted pretty hefty weights, did lunges and never held back in the fitness class we both attended. Marge is the glue of her family and would often host 15 plus people for dinner on Friday nights or for family celebrations. Despite the fact that she was 30 years older than me, we became fast friends.

Her old fashioned kitchen always had a jar of mandelbrodt; in fact my husband loved them so much that she baked them for him a handful of times. So, my friend Patti and I asked her if she would teach us how to make the special cinnamon sugar coated biscotti-like cookies, and she happily agreed and we set up a time for the demonstration. I watched her make the dough without machinery, using a plastic bowl and a wooden spoon, and now this has become my favorite, non-chocolate coffee accompaniment.

I recently visited Marge and we gabbed and caught up on our lives. It dawned on me that she was exactly my age when we first met at the gym! I hope I can be just like Marge when I grow up!

Marge’s Mandelbrodt

Makes about 60

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Note that the method here of baking logs of dough, then slicing them and baking them a second time is very similar to how I make my chocolate chip biscotti.

Ingredients
  • A little less than one cup of sugar (she measured in a liquid measuring cup)
  • A little less than one cup of canola oil (same amount as sugar)
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 ½ cups stone ground unbleached white flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 cup chopped almonds with the skins on OR walnuts OR pecans
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 tsp of ground cinnamon
Instructions

Stir sugar and canola oil together well with a wooden spoon.

Add eggs and vanilla, stirring with wooden spoon until well combined.

Mix flour and baking powder together in a separate bowl.

Add half of this flour mixture at a time to the dough in the bowl and stir. It will be sticky. Then add nuts (finely or more coarsely chopped). Stir everything together well.

Cover the bowl and let rest in the refrigerator for an hour. Have lunch or tea in the meantime-that is what Marge does!

When the hour is up, preheat the oven to 350 and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Divide dough into four equal balls. Wash your hands and form into 1” wide rolls. If still too sticky, I oiled the counter and formed the rolls there. Place the rolls on rimless cookie sheet lined with parchment. Put 2 rolls per sheet and space them so they don’t run into each other. I then flatten the rolls by covering the dough with another sheet of parchment and pressing down with the bottom of the second cookie sheet. Peel the parchment away and voila!

Bake on two shelves mid oven for 20 minutes, reverse the position of the cookie sheets and bake 10-15 more minutes until browned.

While they are baking, mix together the cinnamon and sugar.

Remove from the oven. Wait eight minutes then gently put each roll onto a cutting board and cut them diagonally into about 15 slices about ¾ inch wide, roll in cinnamon/sugar mixture and put on sheet spaced so both cut edges are exposed. Return to oven and TURN OFF HEAT. Leave in until the cookies are cooled or overnight.

Note : I use my electric knife to slice these babies, much as I do my biscookies.

One more interesting fact: when you add baking soda (mixed in the flour) to the batter, there is a chemical reaction and you need to bake the cookies pronto and not leave them sitting on the counter. I always use double acting non-aluminum baking powder for best flavor and replace it, once opened, after one year.

Mandel in Yiddish means almond, so traditional mandelbrodt are made with almonds but I have cheated and made them with pecans or walnuts too.  In the Ukraine, mandelbrodt is known as “kamishbrot” .

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Midwest Baked Beans

Posted on January 16, 2013 by Marilyn

Click here to view recipe.

Colorful Baked Beans

The weekend of October 21 we boarded a nonstop flight from Seattle to Texas, traveling to Austin for my nephew’s wedding. I’ve never “been there, done that” so off we flew to meet up with everyone in my immediate family: my children, two of the grandkids, my siblings, a girlfriend, a spouse. What a great excuse for a family reunion.

I was shocked at how “young” the folks were in this city and how large the city was – almost a million people. Like I’d pictured, Austin is flat and spread out. What I didn’t conjure up in my mind? Countless food trucks. Extremely hot weather at the end of October. The beautiful river and walking path. Night bats. Some of the varied architecture (Victorian) along 6th Street. And names of establishments spread throughout the city were a kick in the pants: Esther’s Follies, The Broken Spoke, Salt Lick Barbeque, Dirty Martins, The Jackaloupe, Buffalo Billiards, The Thirsty Nickel to name a few. Utterly charming.

Fancy Food Truck

I strolled up and down 6th Street gazing into the many bars and nightclubs and was especially thrilled to enter The Elephant Room on Saturday evening where approximately 15 family members gathered for a jazz performance by Ephraim Owens. The bouncer even carded me calling me “overqualified”!

The following Thursday night 12 of us were stunned by the creative food at Uchiko. Thanks to sister Kay and her friends who have visited Austin, we booked reservations at this highly popular establishment back in August – two months prior to the wedding. Billed as “Japanese farmhouse dining” we decided to order a tasting menu so we could enjoy as many dishes as possible. Two of my favorites? Seared pear, brussel sprout puree and grilled mullet with mint and Jar Jar Duck, presented in a jar (of course) with candied citrus and endive with rosemary smoke that emanated when the lid of the jar was removed. We left stuffed to the gills and convened at The Broken Spoke for live honky-tonk country music and dancing.

Beautiful Brussels Sprout Puree with Grilled Mullet

Saturday night’s rehearsal dinner took place at IronWorks Barbeque.The wedding guests, 90% from out of town, were treated to barbecued beef ribs, chicken, beans, coleslaw, and Texas Toast along with typical Texas desserts: banana cream pudding, fruit crisp, and pecan pie.

The Happy Groom & His Cousins

Barbeque is ubiquitous in Texas and most menus and side dishes seem identical. The beans are good but simple and I started to think about my longtime favorite Baked Bean recipe. I make this as a side for barbequed beef, burgers or chicken and it’s always front and center on the 4th of July. It’s easy as can be and sooooo good.

Midwest Baked Beans (circa 1972)

Serves 10

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Ingredients
  • 1 cup chopped yellow onion, diced ¼ inch
  • 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • ½ cup ketchup
  • a few grinds of fresh black pepper to taste (I did eight)
  • ¾ cup light brown sugar (use less if you don’t want it too sweet)
  • 1 tsp dry mustard
  • 2 tsp red wine vinegar
  • dash of tabasco or sriracha (Hot chili sauce)
  • Dash of liquid smoke or hickory seasoning (Wright’s makes a good concentrated type)
  • 1  16 oz can vegetarian baked beans in sauce (Bush’s is my fave)
  • 1  16 oz can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1  16 oz can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1  16 oz can butter beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1  16 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
Instructions

Preheat oven to 350. Sauté onion in olive oil until limp, about eight minutes. Mix sauteed onion with all five types of the beans.

Mix other ingredients (ketchup through liquid smoke) in a separate dish and taste your sauce – add more hot sauce or mustard if you like.

Oil a large porcelain casserole (I smeared it with coconut oil), pour the beans and sauce in, cover well with aluminum foil and bake mid oven for about an hour. Remove from the oven, stir and taste – season if needed with salt, pepper or hickory.

Cook’s notes:

This dish stays hot a long time and is wonderful as a side dish for barbecued beef sandwiches, hamburgers and hotdogs or barbecued chicken.

When I want to kick it up a notch – I add some diced sauteed salami at the beginning.

In the winter I often make this as a main vegetarian dish and make a huge kale or cabbage salad with lots of vegetables for a meatless meal.

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Nourishing Ginger Brew

Posted on January 9, 2013 by Marilyn

Click here to view recipe.

Ginger Brew

Ginger Brew

It seems like so many people become ill this time of year. Right around Thanksgiving in 2012 I battled an awful cold for what seemed like weeks. After sniffling and coughing and going through numerous boxes of Kleenex, I finally decided it was time to make a jar of “ginger brew.” My daughter’s friend who served in the Peace Corps somewhere in Africa gave her this recipe, and since ginger speaks to me, I thought I’d give it a try. In addition ginger has been used for centuries for its healing properties – it purportedly clears up sinuses and can rid the body of throat and nose congestion. Sign me up!

This formula can be doubled or tripled if you want a more substantial amount of the concentrate. Basically, just combine the ingredients for this recipe, keep it in the refrigerator then pour about two ounces in a large tea mug and fill it with seven ounces of boiling water. Believe me, this instantly stopped my nagging cough and opened my sinuses big time.

If you make this in the summer, it can be diluted with ice water, or added to sparkling water or even juice. It is heavy on the ginger flavor (translate as “peppery” or spicy) so if you aren’t a ginger lover, use less concentrate.

Ginger Brew Ingredients

Ginger Brew Ingredients

Ginger Brew

Yield: 2 cups of concentrate which makes about 8 glasses of tea or cold brew

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Ingredients:
  • 1 cup boiling water
  • 3 Tbsp fresh grated ginger (I don’t peel it)
  • 3 Tbsp granulated sugar
  • 7 whole cloves
  • 1 cinnamon stick (2 ½ inches long)
  • 1 lime, squeezed (use the juice only)
  • ½ juice orange, squeezed (use the juice only)
  • 1 cup cold water
 Instructions:

Pour boiling water over the grated ginger, sugar, cloves and cinnamon Stir, cover and keep in a glass bowl or measuring cup and place in a warm place covered for an hour. If it is sunny, put it on the window sill. This time of year I keep it in a warm oven (90 degrees).

After the hour, strain the liquid through a fine sieve or cheesecloth. Add the lime juice, orange juice and cold water. Again, keep the mix in a glass container and cover it, then keep it in a warm place for another hour. Strain the liquid and don’t pour the sediment at the bottom of the container through the strainer-discard it. The mix should be pretty clear.

Store covered in the refrigerator. This will keep for 7-10 days.

Cook’s notes: According to Rachel, ginger is great for digestion and all of the spices in this mix are “warming” and excellent for the winter time.

 

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Luscious Lamb Shanks

Posted on January 2, 2013 by Marilyn

Click here to view recipe.

Lamb Shanks, Sweet Potatoes & Vegetables

We have been to New Zealand twice: the first trip we covered parts of the North and a few areas of the South Island — and didn’t feel like we’d seen nearly enough. Two years later we returned and spent two weeks in the South Island and this time we knew the ropes and decided to do things a little differently. We rented a Mauri camper van for travel and lodging, staying in motels only two times. The campgrounds were not crowded and featured nice bathrooms with showers, washers and dryers and hook ups for electricity and sewage as well. Oddly we did not see even one other American in the campgrounds!

New Zealand Sheep! (the little white spots in the background)

I make no apologies for the fact that I love lamb – lamb shanks, lamb stews, ground lamb, lamb chops, leg of lamb. And New Zealand is the “Land of Sheep” – they are everywhere and so it made great sense that lamb shank was on the menu of every single pub we visited. I venture to say that during our trip we had lamb shanks at casual eateries at least five times a week. Each preparation was different but I cannot tell you that any of the dishes were less than wonderful. In New Zealand, shanks are traditionally served with various vegetables and a heap of mashed “kumara,” a term they use for sweet potatoes.

While I was there I picked up three cookbooks by a New Zealand cookbook author and TV show doyenne, Annabelle Langbein; her name consistently came up when I asked natives for a good New Zealand cookbook author. Indeed! She is the equivalent of the Barefoot Contessa in my book, and I have used Annabelle’s books not only for lamb recipes but for inspiration when making vegetables, salads and other dishes. The only caveat is that I need to convert grams to ounces and oven temperatures from Centigrade to Fahrenheit. I love mathematics so it makes it challenging for me! (It’s easy to convert via the internet though)

The lamb shank preparation I love the most began with a recipe from Annabelle’s cookbook Assemble. I had to search in Seattle for lamb shanks that we not enormous (fore shanks are smaller and I greatly prefer them). I also found it interesting that lamb from Australia and New Zealand is grass fed and most likely organic – and I found the perfect shanks at … Safeway! Go figure…

Make these on a cold Sunday, and mash some sweet potatoes to soak up the savory juices. Roast some Brussels sprouts, green beans or brocollini and you will have a filling, beautiful plate of food. Invite some friends over, and pretend that these were very difficult and time consuming to prepare! You’ll be a star, I promise.

Key Ingredients

Luscious Lamb Shanks

Serves 4

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Ingredients
  • 4-5 lamb shanks
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ⅓ tsp fresh ground pepper
  • 1 cup sun dried tomatoes, diced* (I always keep these as a kitchen staple in my fridge. Mine are in oil so I drain them and use these)
  • 2 Tbsp tomato paste (a good reason to have a tube of this in my fridge)
  • 1 Tbsp pesto (I keep this frozen in my freezer in 1 Tbsp quantities for cooking, but jarred pesto is fine too)
  • 3 large cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp each fine sea salt , ground pepper and sugar (remember the sugar combats acidity from the tomatoes)
  • Grated zest of 1 large lemon
  • 3 cups chicken broth-homemade or canned is fine too
  • 1 cup dry vermouth or white wine (again, I always keep vermouth in the fridge since I do not drink white wine)
  • 2 cans white butter beans, drained or 3 cups home-cooked white beans (any variety except garbanzo)
Instructions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and put oven rack close to the bottom. Line a roasting pan with parchment paper (for easier clean up). Dry the shanks very thoroughly with a towel, then rub the shanks all over with the salt and pepper. Place in the roasting pan in the oven uncovered for about 40 minutes until shanks are a little browned. Remove and pour off fat at the bottom of the roasting pan (mine had about ½ cup of liquid I poured off). Turn oven down to 325 degrees.

Sprinkle diced sundried tomatoes around the shanks – tucking them in so they are evenly distributed. Then mix together all the rest of the ingredients, then pour everything else over the shanks. Cover the roaster and keep cooking for three hours, basting every 45 minutes or so until they are fall-off-the-bone-tender. I often take the lid off the roasting pan 15 minutes before it is done so that the lamb browns a little more and the juices concentrate.

Serve in a large bowl on top of a heap of mashed sweet potatoes and steamed or roasted vegetables around the lamb for color. In a pinch I have even used frozen veggies (a mix of corn, carrot and peas).

If making this ahead – and I often make the lamb the day prior to serving – the lamb fat can be removed then the lamb and liquid can be reheated in the roasting pan at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes.

FYI, cooked lamb shanks freeze quite well in a little of the juice for up to 3 months.

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Amazing Apricot Appetizers

Posted on December 26, 2012 by Marilyn

Click here to view recipe.

Beautiful Apricot Appetizers

For someone who loves food, it might shock you that I am not a huge fan of appetizers – eating them or making them. For me, consuming too much before a meal satiates my hunger and I don’t have room for the main event. Because I don’t like to eat a lot of food before a meal, I don’t really enjoy making fussy, time consuming appetizers. That being said, when I have company and want to have a little something other than my standard hummus or candied nuts or cheese with seeded crackers, I throw together these apricot bites.

I first had these at my Israeli friend Dafna’s house many, many years ago. Dafna is one of the best cooks I know and I love to watch her in the kitchen, peering at her cookbooks (written in Hebrew, of course). She once served these delightful morsels prior to a Hanukah dinner and I went bonkers over the taste sensation: salty, sweet, minty…wow! They have been part of my repertoire ever since and I can make a batch in no time flat Since I still have fresh mint growing on my rooftop deck, and I keep feta or goat cheese as a staple in my kitchen, these are perfect for the time of year when everyone is “over” eating rich heavy foods.

Prepping the Apricots

Apricot Appetizers

Makes ~3 dozen

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Ingredients:
  • Dried apricots halves (it takes 2 apricot halves per appetizer)
  • ½ small clove of garlic
  • 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • ½ cup high quality feta cheese or soft goat cheese
  • Fresh whole mint leaves
  • Fancy dancy toothpicks
Instructions

Roll apricot halves with a rolling pin so they are at least 1 inch in diameter. Arrange so the stickier inside of each half is facing up.

Mince the garlic and combine with the olive oil.

Place about ⅓ tsp of soft cheese in the center of the apricot half. Brush the other half with garlic infused olive oil. Top with the other apricot half, smooth side (less sticky side)  up to make a sandwich.

You can make these up to 8 hours ahead of serving,

Up to an hour before serving, add the mint leaf to the top of the apricot and stab with a toothpick. Leave at room temperature so that the cheese melts in your mouth!

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Argentinian Cookies in Israel!

Posted on December 19, 2012 by Marilyn

Click here to view recipe.

Alfajores de Maizena (cornflower sandwich cookies)

Smack in the middle of our Israeli vacation we stayed in the town of Ramot Naftali, a moshav (settlement) in the Upper Galilee. This was our “base” for three nights and every day we pulled out maps, books and of course our computer to plan activities for the following day. Sadly, the internet connection only worked when I was outside sitting on the steps of our little cottage. But this little glitch didn’t stop us from being on the go, go, go!

One of the biggest highlights of this part of our trip, for me, was an intriguing woman named Miriam Bronstein, the owner of our Zimmer (an Israeli version of a bed and breakfast.) This lively lady was born in Argentina and now lives in Ramot Naftali with her husband and 13 year old son. Her other two grown children are quite a bit older (mid-20s?) and  live in Haifa and Tel Aviv. In addition to owning and managing the zimmer, Miriam sews wedding dresses on site. I don’t know how old she is but I speculate that I am many years her senior. At this stage of my life I don’t even try to guess one’s age!

Miriam and her cookies

I knew right away that Miriam possessed wonderful cooking skills. She provided a full Israeli breakfast for guests if requested – featuring delicacies like grilled vegetables, homemade biscuits with cheese and an array of fruit salads. Much to my delight, she was eager to discuss cooking concepts and recipes and we did the best we could given that my Hebrew is awful and my Spanish language skills not much better.

The first night we arrived Miriam brought the most unbelievable cookies to our room – alfajores de maizena, or cornflower sandwich cookies. The little pastries were beautiful and were the perfect compliment to the passionfruit and fresh figs we had in our room.

Those of you who know me best won’t be surprised to learn that I insisted on getting Miriam’s recipe. After a good deal of gesturing, a lot of pantomime and my attempts to use Spanish I was able to cobble together an actual recipe! The funniest thing to me occurred in the translation. One of the ingredients Miriam listed was “corn flour”, but after eating the cookies I couldn’t taste corn meal and asked her if this was yellow in color, coarse or fine flour. She gestured and I finally asked her to get the package so I could see what it looked like. Lo and behold, corn flour was really corn STARCH. And that made much more sense – although I have never baked a cookie with this much corn starch before.

The original recipe

This just goes to show that, if you keep an open mind, you never know where or when you might unearth a favorite new recipe. I certainly didn’t imagine I’d find the formula for Argentinian cookies in the heart of Israel!

Alfajores de Maizena (cornflower sandwich cookies) – dictated to me by Miriam.

The recipe was written in Hebrew and translated into English by Miriam after several phone calls to her sister!

Yield: 30-35 sandwich cookies

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Ingredients:
  • 8 ounces butter (2 sticks)
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 1 egg + 2 more egg yolks
  • 1 Tbsp brandy
  • 1 ⅓ cup cornstarch
  • 1 cup white flour (or you can use cake flour which is better + ½ tsp soda in place of white flour and baking powder)
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • zest of 1 lemon, finely chopped
  • 1-2 cups Dulce de leche (you can buy this at a Mexican grocery store or make it from condensed milk)
  • 1 ½ cups unsweetened shredded coconut to roll the cookies
Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 with oven racks in the middle. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg , beat well then add yolks one at a time. Add brandy, vanilla and lemon zest.

Stir together all dry ingredients and quickly mix into the batter until just combined. Divide into two smooth balls and refrigerate ½ hour.

Roll out each the dough balls onto pastry cloth or counter dusted only cornstarch (NOT FLOUR) to keep the dough from sticking. Roll into a ¼ inch thick circle. Using a glass (~1 ½ inch in diameter) dipped in cornstarch, cut little.circles and carefully transfer onto parchment-lined sheets.

Place cookie sheets in the oven and bake 15 minutes, switching the two sheets halfway through.

Remove the cookie sheets as the cookies are still white in color. Gently pull parchment with cookies from the metal cookie sheets and let cool. When the cookies are totally cooled carefully remove the cookies from the from the parchment.

Using a flat knife or offset spatula, spread the flat side of one cookie with dulce de leche. Sandwich the flat side of another cookie on top, and press flat sides of the cookies together, squeezing out a little dulce de leche so it is around the perimeter. You can also spread more dulce de leche around the perimeter if there isn’t enough to “ooze.” Roll each cookie in unsweetened shredded coconut.

I think next time I will dip half the cookie in dark chocolate. Yum!

You can search for recipes for dulce de leche-it can be made in the pressure cooker, stovetop or crock pot.

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The Perfect Piggy

Posted on December 12, 2012 by Marilyn

Piggy Steamer

I don’t own many non-essential kitchen gadgets or tools in my global kitchens…less is more in my book. However, I adore this cute, pig-themed silicone cover and employ it on an almost daily basis for steaming, and for pan frying. It’s star role, though, is to cover a bowl or plate before microwaving because it is heavy enough that it doesn’t curl or move around. (I detest using paper towels or plastic wrap in the microwave.) Steam comes out the piggy’s nostrils, and the holes in the nose provide a way to lift the cover with chopsticks.

I have gifted this to several friends and most of them tell me how much they love and use this whimsical kitchen tool. Purportedly this can be used to open jars too although I haven’t personally used it for this reason.

You can buy the piggy steamer on Amazon in either pink or white and in various sizes. I have the 7-inch model. If you end up with splattered tomato sauce or curry stains, it cleans up beautifully with Barkeepers Friend and even goes in the dishwasher!

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