Raisin Topper Cookies

It's time for another recipe from Aunt Faye.
I find this one to be quite interesting.
I love raisins.
I will definitely make these cookies.

Raisin Toppers

Combine, In a saucepan:
1 C light or dark Raisins
1/2 C Brown Sugar
2 TBS Flour
1/3 C Water
1/4 tsp Salt
Cook, stirring often until thick

Stir in:
2 TBS Lemon Juice
Cool Completely

Sift into the above mixture:
2 Cups Flour
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Soda
Stir in 1/2 C Brown Sugar

Cut in 1 C Vegetable Shortening
Stir in 3 C uncooked Rolled Oats
1/3 C Water
Grate rind of 1 Lemon
Blend Well

Form Balls 1 TBS each ( use a cookie scoop)
Place on a Parchment Paper lined Cookie Sheet or a Silpat Lined Cookie Sheet, 2" apart.
Flatten
Make a dent in the center with your thumb
Fill with Raisins
Bake at 375 Degrees for 10 minutes
Let stand 5 minutes on a wire rack.

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!

Pineapple Coconut Rum Cake

Pineapple Coconut Rum Cake 1   18 1/2 oz. pkg. yellow cake mix 1   3 3/4 oz. pkg. instant vanilla pudding mix 1   15 oz. can coco lopez cream of coconut 1/2 cup  plus 4 tbsp. rum ( I use Mount Gay dark.... not Silver) 1/3 cup  vegetable oil 4   eggs 2-8  oz. cans crushed pineapple (well drained) separated In a large mixer bowl, combine cake mix, pudding mix,  1/2 cup rum, oil, eggs, and 1/2 cup cream of coconut. beat on medium speed 2  minutes. stir in 1 can pineapple. bake in 10-inch tube pan for 50-55 minutes. cool  slightly. remove from pan. Combine remaining cream of coconut and rum, pour half of it in the bottom of the pan. Return the cake to the pan and drizzle the remaining half over the bottom of the cake. Refrigerate overnight. Garnish each slice with remaining can of Crushed Pineapple, Toasted Coconut and Whipped Cream. Bake at 350 degrees for 55 - 60 minutes Enjoy! Peace in the Kitchen!

Salsa - Terry's Original Recipe

Another "Best of the Best" recipe.

Every Texan has their favorite Salsa. Believe me when I say that we are passionate about it. I could talk about Salsa for days, instead, I'll just say that I created this fresh Salsa recipe to make up for all of the "not so good" Salsa that I've purchased or eaten in Restaurants.

I've made this for our friends in France. This means that I take this recipe with me when we travel and make it there.

I use 8 medium sized Jalapenos, you can use less if you don't like the heat. This one is spicy.

I happen to love fresh, non cooked, non roasted and very simple Salsa.

30 Plum or Roma Tomatoes ( I prefer these to others because of the firm texture. I don't peel them) roughly chop them, they'll be processed in a food processor.

6 - 8  Fresh Jalapeno Peppers, cut off the tops, I leave the seeds in. You don't have to if you prefer a less spicy Salsa.

1 Large White Onion, peeled and roughly chopped

1 Green Bell Pepper, roughly chopped

1 Red Bell Pepper, roughly chopped

1 dozen garlic cloves , peeled and cut in half

1 C of packed chopped fresh Cilantro

1 TBS Salt

4 TBS Adobo Seasoning

2 TBS Cider Vinegar

1/4C  Olive Oil

Juice of 3 Limes

Juice of 3 Lemons

In a Food Processor .

Pulse the Jalapenos, Onion and Garlic

Scrape down the sides to incorporate everything

Remove this to a large bowl ( I use a  large Stainless Steel Stock Pot)

Pulse Red and Green Peppers, transfer to the bowl

Without cleaning the processor, add the tomatoes in batches and pulse them and transfer them to the bowl with the Jalapenos.

Stir in the Adobo Seasoning

Add the Cilantro

Season to taste with Salt

Stir in the Vinegar

Stir in the Oil

Add the Juice of the Limes and the Lemons

Mix well

Refrigerate

"the longer it sits, the better it gits".

Enjoy!

Peace in the Kitchen!

Gazpacho / Ree Drummond / The Pioneer Woman

I love Gazpacho and I've never found a recipe that I like.
I recently discovered this one from Ree Drummond.
It's exactly what I wanted.

Gazpacho is a Tomato based Vegetable Soup served Cold. It originated in the Andalucia region of Southern Spain.

You can use V-8 Juice instead of Tomato Juice. It simply has more flavor. I use whatever I have in the pantry at the time. I prefer V-8.

• 2 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 1/2 whole Red Onion, Diced
• 1 whole Large Cucumber, Diced
• 5 whole Roma Tomatoes, Diced
• 1 whole Zucchini, Diced
• 2 stalks Celery, Diced
• 1 dash Salt To Taste
• 1/4 gallon Tomato Juice (4Cups)
• 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/8 cup Red Wine Vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons White Sugar
• 6 dashes Tabasco
• 1 dash Black Pepper To Taste
•  At the end I add Fresh Chopped Parsley and Chopped Chives from our Garden.

Preparation Instructions

In the bowl of a food processor or in a blender, combine the minced garlic with half the red onion, half the cucumber, half the tomato, half the zucchini, half the celery, half the tomato juice (2C), all of the olive oil,all of the red wine vinegar, all of the sugar, all of the Tabasco, a dash of salt.

Pulse until all ingredients are blended well; mixture will have a nice speckled, colorful texture.

Pour into a large Bowl, add the rest of the Tomato Juice, and half of the remaining Onion, 1/2 remaining Cucumber, 1/2 remaining Tomato, 1/2 remaining Zucchini, and 1/2 remaining Celery.  Reserve some of the diced Vegetables for Garnish.( See Note below before reserving some of the diced Vegetables for garnish).

Stir mixture together and check s\Seasonings, adding Salt and Pepper, if needed. Chill Soup for at least a couple of Hours; It needs to be very cold!  The recipe made a little over 60 ounces.  I put it in a large Vlasic Pickle Jar.

Remove the Soup from the Refrigerator and Stir. Check Seasonings one last time. Ladle into a bowl and Garnish with remaining diced Vegetables, fresh Avocado, Sour Cream, Fresh Parsley and Green Onion.

Note:
At the end, I decided that we would not eat this all at once so I didn't want to keep the Vegetable garnishes in the Refrigerator for a later date.
I decided to put all of the diced Vegetables in the Bowl with the full recipe.
I will Garnish it only with Sour cream, Avocado, Fresh Parsley and Green Onion.
I included the tops of the green onions.



Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!

Cornflake Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Cookies ... Christina Tosi from Momofuku Milk Bar in NYC

Cornflake Crunch
Yields about four cups

Ingredients
5 c. cornflakes 
½ c. milk powder 
3 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. kosher salt
9 tbsp. butter, melted

1. Heat oven to 275°.
2. In a medium bowl, with your hands, crush cornflakes to ¼ of their original size. Add milk powder, sugar, and salt; toss to mix. Add butter; toss to coat. (As you toss, the butter will act as glue, binding the dry ingredients to the cereal, creating small clusters.)
3. On a parchment- or Silpat-lined sheet pan, spread clusters and bake for 20 minutes, at which point they should look toasted, smell buttery, and crunch gently when cooled slightly and chewed.
4. Cool completely before storing or using in a recipe. Stored in an airtight container at room temperature, the crunch will keep fresh for one week; in the fridge or freezer, it will keep with one month.





Cornflake Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Cookies
Makes fifteen to twenty

Ingredients
16 tbsp. (2 sticks) room-temperature butter
1¼ c. granulated sugar
2/3 c. light brown sugar, tightly packed
1 egg
½ tsp. vanilla extract
1½ c. flour
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
1½ tsp. kosher salt
3 c. Cornflake Crunch (recipe above)
2/3 c. mini chocolate chips
1¼ c. mini marshmallows

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter and sugars; cream together on medium-high 2-3 minutes. With a spatula, scrape down sides of bowl, then add egg and vanilla and beat 7-8 minutes.
2. Reduce speed to low; add flour, baking powder and soda, and salt. Mix just until dough comes together, no longer than 1 minute. (Do not walk away from the machine during this step or risk overmixing.) Scrape down sides of bowl.
3. Still on low speed, paddle in cornflakes and chips until just incorporated, about 30-45 seconds. Paddle in marshmallows.
4. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Using a 2-oz. ice cream scoop, portion 1/3 c. dough at a time onto pan. Pat tops of dough domes flat. Wrap pan tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 1 week. (Do not bake room-temperature disks — they will not hold their shape.)
5. Heat oven to 375°. On a parchment- or Silpat-lined sheet pan, arrange chilled disks a minimum of 4 inches apart. Bake 18 minutes, until cookies are browned on edges and just beginning to brown toward the center. Cookies will puff, crackle, and spread. Leave them in oven for another minute or so if they still seem pale and doughy on the surface.
6. Cool cookies completely on pan before moving them to a plate or an airtight container for storage. At room temperature, cookies will keep fresh for 5 days; in the freezer, they will keep for 1 month.

I posted this recipe from Christina so that all of the Foodies that read this blog can have the opportunity to get to know Christina.
She's very innovative in the kitchen.
She's one of my favorite pastry chefs.

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!

Swiss Raclette !

We learned about Raclette from our friends in Provence.
It's a very social way to share an evening at the table with good friends.
Each person cooks and prepares the ingredients they like.

Raclette is a type of Cheese, it melts really well.

Traditionally Raclette Cheese is melted in front of an open fire with a large portion of the cheese facing the heat.
It's scraped from the melting side onto a plate and served with small boiled potatoes, cornichons , small pickled onions and dried meats or sausage.

Raclette has been around since Medieval Times  in the mountainous regions of Switzerland and France.

The modern way of serving it involves an electric tabletop grill with pans known as coupelles , where the cheese is sliced and placed in individual pans under the heat source.
The grill surface heats the boiled potatoes and meat.
The melted cheese is then scraped and mixed with the potatoes, meat, pickled onions and cornichons.

We've enjoyed preparing it with friends here in the States and in France with our friends.
We were in London in December and enjoyed an amazing Raclette sandwich at Burrough Market.

Apple Pie Without a Crust

This is an adaptation of an Amish/Mennonite Recipe from one of my family's vintage recipe books.

Apple Pie Without a Crust

1/2C White Sugar
1/4 C Brown Sugar
1/2 C Flour
1 Egg, unbeaten
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 C Chopped Apples ( core and peel the Apple) I used a Jonagold, it only took 1/2 of a large Apple)

The next time I made it I used a small apple and it was a cup!
1 C Chopped Pecans ( I used 1/2 C of Regular Pecans and 1/2 C of Cinnamon Frosted Pecans)

Combine, in a bowl:
Sugars ( White and Brown)
Flour
Egg

Combine, in a bowl
Baking Powder
Salt
Vanilla
Mix Well
Add to Dry Ingredients

Stir in :
Nuts
Apples

I use a blending fork, a wooden spoon would be just fine, to mix all of the ingredients together.
The dough will be very thick.

Press the dough, using your fingers, in a Pie Pan that's been prepared with my Pan Release Recipe ( search under Tips, Hints and More)
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Serve with Whipped Cream , or Vanilla Ice Cream.

I made this and we took it to some friends for dinner last night. It is definitely a "Best of the Best" recipe. I will keep making this one!

Since I first posted this recipe, I've made it many times. It's our new favorite dessert. I've made it with apple and walnuts or you could use slivered almonds. I'll also make it with pear and walnuts. It's simple to make, only 30 minutes and most people have the ingredients in their pantry except for an apple or a pear.

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen! ( The Kitchen smells amazing)

It's not just for Dinner anymore!
In the oven right now for Breakfast.