Hot Leprechaun Salad

Hot Leprechaun Salad

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. Olive Oil

2 Cloves. Garlic, minced. 

1 lb. Fresh Brussels Sprouts. rinsed and quartered

1/4 lb. Corned Beef, sliced from the deli and chopped

1/4 C. Spicy Brown mustard. 

2 Tbsp. Honey

Course Sea Salt

Fresh Ground black pepper. 

Directions:

Over a High Heat. 

Lightly brown garlic in oil. 

Add Brussels Sprouts. 

Sprinkle with salt and pepper. 

Toss frequently till Sprouts are browned here and there on cut surfaces. 

Add Corned Beef and mix while cooking until meat is heated stirring frequently. 

In a cup or bowl combine mustard and honey.

Reduce heat to low and coat entire mixture with home made honey mustard. 

Remove from heat.

Mix well.

Serve with Rye Bread Points or cocktail rye.

Hot Chocolate Pudding Cakes

I used small ramekins for this recipe and filled them half full (not 3/4 as the recipe states) and used Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips melted with unsalted butter.

Baking time for these pudding will vary based on what you bake it in. If you use a small/medium ramekin, it may take as little as 10 minutes. My cups took exactly 15 minutes. If using a larger bowl, they may need as much as 20 minutes in the oven. Whichever size, just bake them until a crust forms on top that has some deep cracks and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out with some gooey batter attached.

You can refrigerate the batter before baking. Let sit at room temperature for a bit before baking and note it may take a few minutes longer to bake if the batter is cold. Eating fresh from the oven is best, but if necessary, you can also bake ahead, let cool, cover and keep at room temperature for several hours or cover and refrigerate. Re-heat for a few minutes or microwave to re-warm. Puddings will puff back up a bit when re-heated.

Ingredients

• 4 oz./1 stick (115g) unsalted butter, cubed
• 6 oz. (170g) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped (somewhere around 70% is good)
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup (134g) white sugar
• Pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375° F. (190° C), with rack set in lower third of oven. Set ramekins or baking dishes on a baking sheet. No need to grease.
2. Put the butter and chocolate in a medium-sized bowl, then set the bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Stir gently until smooth. Remove the bowl from the heat and set aside.
3. Using an electric mixer or by hand with a whisk, whip the eggs, sugar, and salt until the mixture is light and foamy, and just holding its shape (like soft whipped cream). This should take about 5 minutes with an electric mixer, or longer if doing by hand. Fold one-third of the beaten eggs into the chocolate to lighten it, then scrape the lightened chocolate mixture over the beaten eggs, and fold it in just until there are no streaks of eggs visible.
4. Divide the batter into the baking dishes, filling them no more then 3/4 full (They will rise). *Note: If you like, you can cover and refrigerate batter in dishes now to bake later. Note that a cold batter will take longer to cook.
5. Bake the puddings for about 12 to 20 minutes (depending on size of baking dish) until the puddings are puffed up and the top is crusted and deeply cracked. A toothpick inserted into the centre will come out with some soft chocolate attached.
6. Serving and Storage: These can be served immediately, or you can let cool, cover, and keep at room temperature for up to a day. You can also refrigerate the batter before baking and then bring them to room temperature before baking.

Black Bean Soup with rice

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, minced
4 garlic cloves
salt and pepper
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/4 teaspoon cumin

1/2 tsp. seasoned salt
3 cans seasoned black beans, drained but not rinsed
1-1/2 cups water
2 cups chicken broth (OR vegetable stock)
1/4 tsp. cayenne

Toppings: sliced avocado, salsa, sour cream, shredded cheese, corn, chopped green onion, chopped fresh onion

For the Cilantro-Lime Rice:1 cup long grain white rice
2 cups water
1 T. olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
juice of 1/2 lime & grated zest of 1/2 lime

1-2 T. chopped cilantro

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add onion, season with salt and pepper, then saute until soft, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and saute for 30 more seconds, stirring constantly. Add chili powder and cumin then saute for 30 more seconds.
2. Add drained beans, water, and chicken broth, bring soup to a boil, then lower heat slightly and simmer for 15 minutes. Scoop 2 ladle-fulls of soup into a blender or food processor, then blend until almost smooth. Alternatively use a hand-held immersion blender to process 1/3 of the beans in the soup pot. Add blended soup back into the pot then add hot sauce and stir to combine.
3. For the Chipotle-Lime Rice: While soup is simmering, bring water, oil, and salt to a boil in a saucepan. Add rice, place a lid on top, then turn heat down to medium-low and simmer until rice is tender, about 15 minutes. Stir to fluff then add lime juice and chopped cilantro.
4. To serve, scoop cooked rice into bottom of bowls then top with hot soup. Top with sliced avocado, salsa, sour cream, etc.

Sugar Cookies

(Pictured on top, frosted)

Sugar Cookie Cutouts

2/3

cup of butter, softened

3/4

cup of sugar

1

teaspoon of baking powder

1/4

teaspoon of salt

1

egg

1

tablespoon of milk

1

teaspoon of vanilla

2

cups of all-purpose flour

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed 30 seconds. Add sugar, baking powder, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping side of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg, milk, and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour. Divide dough in half. If necessary, cover and chill about 30 minutes or until dough is easy to handle.
2. On a lightly floured surface, roll half of the dough at a time until 1/4 inch thick. Using a 4-1/2- to 6-inch cookie cutter, cut dough into desired shapes. Place 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet. At this point, add colored sugar or sprinkles if you like (otherwise, leave them plain and frost/decorate after they've been baked.)
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are firm and bottoms are very lightly browned. Transfer to a wire rack; cool.

Kolacky

(Kolacky pictured on left side of plate.)

Cream together:
 1/2 pint (approx. 1 cup) vanilla ice cream, slightly melted
 1/4 c. powdered sugar
 1 tsp. vanilla
 1 cup soft butter
 3 to 3-1/2 cups flour (add enough to make a stiff dough that isn't TOO sticky)

Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for several hours.

Preheat the oven to 350º.

Take a portion of the dough (1/3 or 1/4) and roll out into a rectangle, and less than 1/4" thick.
Cut into strips, making squares approx. 2"x 2".

Into the center of each, spoon a scant amount of Solo filling (apricot, raspberry, prune....) and gather up two corners of the dough square, pinching together to seal.

Place kolacky onto lightly greased baking sheet, leaving a little room in between each cookie.

Bake for 20 min., until the edges begin to turn golden.  Remove from oven. Cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar.

Chili Lime Chicken

FAST & EASY - this is great for weeknights when you do NOT feel like cooking!!

Take 2 large (or 4 small) boneless, skinless chicken breasts & pound them until they're uniform in thickness.

Make a rub (this is up to you - don't be afraid to go BOLD): chili powder, cumin, cayenne, thyme, garlic powder, salt, freshly ground pepper - sprinkle over chicken & rub into meat. Set aside while pan's heating.

In a large pan, heat 4 T. olive oil & 1 T. butter until very hot (but not smoking!) - place the chicken in the pan & fry for several minutes - turn pcs. over and cook until they're done. Cooking time will vary depending on the thickness of the chicken - press into the thickest part of the chicken & if the juices run clear, it's done. Squeeze the juice of 3 limes over the chicken to deglaze pan, turn chicken over & swirl around in pan juices before serving. Season with salt & pepper.

No matter how I turned the plate, the chicken wound up looking like fish! ha! I suppose you could easily make this using fish too! :-)

Gazpacho

gazpacho:  noun, a Spanish-style soup made from tomatoes and other vegetables and spices, served cold.

1 large cucumber, halved and seeded, but not peeled
2 red bell peppers, cored & seeded
4 large plum tomatoes
1 small red onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
23 ounces tomato juice (3 cups)
4 Tblsp. cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup good olive oil
1/2 T. salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper


 Chop the cucumbers, bell peppers, tomatoes, and red onions into 1-inch cubes - you don't have to be precise here. Put each vegetable separately into a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until it is coarsely chopped. Do not overprocess or it will turn to sludge!

After each vegetable is processed, combine them in a large bowl and add the garlic, tomato juice, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Mix well and chill before serving. The longer gazpacho sits, the more the flavors develop.  


Serve in bowls & garnish with fresh springs of basil or parsley.