Almond Crescents

 

Buttery, crumbly, and not too sweet, but sweet enough. My mother has made Almond Crescents for many years, and this is her recipe. They are delicious with a cup of Earl Grey tea, sipped in front of the fire on a blustery day. 

Almond Crescents

1 cup blanched almonds, toasted at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes, and cooled

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup sugar

In food processor, blend the almonds, sugar, and salt until very finely ground. Set aside.

1 cup butter

1/4 cup sugar

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

You will also need about 3/4 cup of icing sugar to use after the cookies are baked.

In mixing bowling, beat the butter and sugar on high until creamy and light. Reduce speed and add the almond and vanilla extracts, then the flour and the almond mixture. 

Cover and chill for about 1 hour. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. 

Shape dough, using about 1 rounded teaspoon, into a small ball, then roll into a log and form into a crescent. You may need to flour your hands to prevent sticking. If the dough is cold enough, this won't be necessary.

Place on parchment paper lined baking sheets. They will spread a little, but not much. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly golden.

Immediately transfer to cooling rack. Sift icing sugar over the cookies generously. I like to sift the sugar over once when the cookies are hot, and once when they have cooled. They should be well coated.

Makes 5-6 dozen cookies.

Crunchy Vanilla Clusters

 

These sweet little morsels have few ingredients, and one of them is rather surprising. There are nuts - pecans and almonds - a bit of butter, lots of white chocolate, and the surprise ingredient - ramen noodles. I know. Weird. And oddly addicting. They are crushed and sauteed with the butter and nuts and add a savoury note to the white chocolate. 

I got the recipe from a Christmas with Southern Living 2000 hardback book. 

Crunchy Vanilla Clusters

1 (3 ounce) (100 g) package ramen noodles

3/4 cup pecan pieces

1/2 cup sliced almonds

2 Tablespoons butter

12 oz (340 g) white chocolate (I used Baker's)

Gently crush the ramen noodles, and discard the flavour packet. Melt the butter over medium-low heat in a skillet. Add the noodles, pecans, and almonds. Saute, stirring occasionally, until toasted. 

Turn the heat down to low and add the white chocolate. I let the chocolate sit on top of the mixture to soften, then begin stirring it gently. Conversely, you can melt the chocolate in the microwave and add it to the mixture. Coat the mixture thoroughly. 

Drop by tablespoons onto parchment paper. Let stand until firm. Place in fridge for quicker cooling. Store clusters in airtight container in the fridge, freezer, or if not too warm, at room temperature. 

Makes about 3 dozen.

Scandinavian Almond Cookies

 

I've had this recipe, handwritten on a 3 x 5 card just the way we used to do, for a long time. I made it again recently and was so pleased with the texture and taste that I think I will make another batch soon. Crisp on the outside and chewy inside with a pronounced almond taste, they disappeared quickly. 

1 1/2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 cup butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract

milk

1/2 cup sliced almonds, coarsely chopped

Stir together the flour and baking powder. Set aside. 

Beat butter until creamy, add sugar and beat well, then add egg and extract. 

Stir in the flour.

Divide the dough into 4 equal portions. Form each portion into a 12 inch long roll. Place two rolls 4 - 5 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet (I line my baking sheet with parchment paper). Flatten each roll to about 1 1/2 inches - they will spread out quite a bit as they bake. 

Brush with milk. Sprinkle with almonds. Bake at 325 F for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned. 

Slide the rolls onto a cutting board (using parchment paper makes this very easy). While warm and soft, cut crosswise into 1 1/2 inch strips. Transfer to wire rack and cool. Makes about 36 cookies.

Drizzle with almond icing.

1 cup icing sugar

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

3-4 teaspoons milk

Stir together until creamy and soft. 

The cookies keep well at room temperature for a week or more, and can easily be frozen for longer storage. 

Creamy Eggs

 

When we have guests for breakfast, I try to make as much ahead as possible because getting up really early to prepare breakfast is not something I enjoy. This egg dish is one I've made for years. It's easy to put together and easy to adapt. One could add cubed ham, or fried mushrooms to the eggs. Or sausage, or cooked vegetables like broccoli or red peppers. It's also very good plain. Creamy eggs covered with buttered crumbs and some cheese are just so good. 

Creamy Eggs (to feed 4-5 people)

Step One: the eggs

8 eggs, cracked into a bowl and lightly whisked with 2 Tablespoons of water

1 Tablespoon butter

Melt the butter over medium low heat in a frying pan. Tip in the eggs and gently cook them, lifting and stirring occasionally. I once read that according to Julia Child, slowly scrambling eggs is the key to a soft and delicious result.

Season with salt and pepper. You could also add herbs of your choice - minced chives, oregano, parsley. 

Cook the eggs until barely done. You want them to be very soft and moist. Once cooked, place them into an appropriately-sized baking dish. For this amount I've used a 9 inch quiche pan.

Step Two: the sauce

2 Tablespoons butter

2 Tablespoons flour

1 cup milk

1/2 - 1 cup grated cheese of your choice (I used Cheddar)

Melt the butter and add the flour. Stir and cook for a minute or two. Whisk in the milk and continue whisking until the sauce thickens and boils. Add the cheese and stir until melted. Season with salt to taste.

Pour the sauce over the eggs in the baking dish.

Step Three: the topping

1/2 - 1 cup coarse dried bread crumbs

2-4 Tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 - 1 cup grated cheese of your choice

Combine all the ingredients and sprinkle over the eggs and sauce.

At this point, you can cover the dish and refrigerate it over night, or bake it now.

Bake at 350 degree for 20-30 minutes, until bubbly on the edges and hot throughout. 

Lemon Squares Deluxe

 

Sweet and tart with bright flavour served on a shortbread crust. This hits so many of my favourite flavours. It's a recipe from my mother, and always turns out. 

Lemon Squares Deluxe

Crust:

2 cups flour

1/2 cup icing sugar

1 cup butter (firm)

Place all ingredients in food processor and pulse until mixture clings together. Press into a 9 x 13 baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees until lightly browned, 20 minutes. 

Filling:

4 eggs

2 cups white sugar

1/4 cup flour

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Place all ingredients in food processor (I don't bother cleaning the bowl from using it for the crust). Mix until thick and smooth.

Pour over hot crust and return pan to oven or a further 25 minutes. 

Sift icing sugar over top. Cool and cut into squares. 

Date Filled Oatmeal Cookies

 

These cookies are a family favourite. In fact, they are my dad's all time favourite. They are old fashioned, hearty cookies, and fairly economical to make. Not a fancy cookie, but one that satisfies that "4 o'clock sinking feeling". Good with a cup of tea. 

Date Filled Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup butter (the original recipe says part shortening, but I use all butter)

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup milk

2 cups oatmeal (I use large flake old-fashioned oatmeal, but quick oats would work, too. Don't use instant oatmeal.)

1 1/2 cups flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt (I omit as I use salted butter)

Cream butter and add brown sugar. Beat until creamy. Add milk and oats. Mix well. 

Combine the flour and baking powder, then stir into the mixture. 

Chill for 30-60 minutes. 

Roll dough on a floured counter top to 1/8 inch thick. Cut with round cookie cutter. Bake for 11-14 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Cool on a rack.

Sandwich two cookies together with cooled Date Filling, recipe below. 

Date Filling

1/2 pound dried dates, chopped

2/3 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Cook the dates, water, and sugar together in a saucepan over medium heat until thick. Stir often. There will be some chunks left depending on how finely the dates are chopped. They smooth out fairly well when you spread the filling onto the cookies.

These cookies store well, and can be frozen. 

Seedy Crackers

 

This is a good grain-free cracker that satisfies the crunch need for people eating low-carb diets. I no longer do so, but I still enjoy these crackers. They are great with cheese or peanut butter or whatever you like to put onto crackers. I believe the original recipe is from an Oh, She Glows book or post, but I've adapted it considerably. I got the original one from my daughter.

Seedy Crackers 

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds (I use toasted and salted)

1/2 cup sunflower seeds (ditto)

1/2 cup raw sesame seeds

1/2 cup chia seeds

1/2 cup hemp hearts (optional)

2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast

1 teaspoon Xanthum Gum (this helps hold the crackers together a bit more. It can be left out, but the crackers are more fragile and you might want to make them thicker.)

2 Tablespoons soy sauce plus enough water to measure 1 cup

seasonings to taste - you can add garlic powder (about 1 teaspoon), or fresh garlic, minced, or other herbs

Stir everything together in a bowl and let sit for about 5 minutes. Stir thoroughly again, then spread on parchment lined baking sheets.

You'll notice that I spread mine on two baking sheets - I found it easier for turning them later. Use an offset spatula to press and spread out the mixture evenly. They should be about 1/8-inch thick. One pan is spread to about 12 x 9 inches and the other is smaller, about 10 x 8. 

Bake at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes. Rotate the pans from top rack to bottom after 15 minutes, if you've used two pans. I then remove them from the oven and cut them into quarters and carefully flip them over. Bake another 10 - 15 minutes, until almost crisp. Cut them into squares and return them to the oven for 5--10 minutes until crisp through. Cool and store in a tightly sealed container. 

I use a bench scraper for cutting them and that works well. They are fragile, and there will be some breakage, but the seed crumbs are yummy on a salad or in soup. 

If you use gluten free soy sauce, you'll have a gluten free cracker for your friends that can't tolerate gluten. 

Vegetable Quinoa Patties

 

Faced with a glut of zucchini last summer, I spent some time searching out zucchini recipes on the internet. I came across several variations of quinoa patties that included zucchini and I gave them a try. This recipe is one I've adapted from a number of recipes. 

The patties can be made ahead, frozen and reheated. They are good hot or cold. They're great on a picnic or at the dinner table. They make good finger food for toddlers, and they are loaded with vegetables and healthy grains. Win win.

Vegetable Quinoa Patties

2 - 3 cups cooked quinoa, cooled

1 Tablespoon olive oil, plus more for drizzling

1 onion, diced

1 medium zucchini, grated, and then squeezed to release moisture. Save the moisture for soup. You should have about 1 cup of grated and squeezed zucchini

1 medium carrot, grated

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tablespoons minced fresh herbs, I used parsley and basil

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 cup bread crumbs (I used seasoned because that's what I had, but plain work well, too)

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

3 eggs, lightly beaten

Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat and saute the onion until soft. Add the carrot and zucchini and continue to saute until the vegetables are mostly tender. Add the garlic and saute for another minute or so. Let the mixture cool to room temperature.

To the quinoa, add the cooled vegetables, the minced herbs, salt and pepper and stir well to combine.

Add the bread crumbs, eggs, and cheese and again, mix well.

Form the mixture into patties (I used about 1/2 cup for each one, but they could be made smaller, as desired). They will feel loose, but hold together well on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place them on the parchment paper with space between them, not touching each other. Flatten the tops and pat into shape.

Drizzle a bit of olive oil onto the top of each pattie. 

Bake at 410 degrees for 15-20 minutes, then flip the patties and bake for another 10 minutes. 

Serve at desired temperature.

These are great with a sauce - herbed yogurt, or salsa are good. I also like them with a garlicky lemon mayonnaise - aioli. 

The recipe yielded 18 patties for me, each about 3 inches in diameter and 3/4 inch high.

Good Things Cookies

 

This recipe is based on one from Fine Cooking magazine, adapted to our tastes. The combination of ingredients makes for a rich, delicious cookie that is perfect with a cup of tea. 

Good Things Cookies 

(makes 2 dozen cookies)

3/4 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 large egg

1 Tablespoon light corn syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Cream together the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy. Scrape the bowl regularly. Add the egg, corn syrup, and vanilla; beat well. 

Add the flour, salt, and baking soda and mix until thoroughly combined. Scrape the bowl to ensure that all is well-mixed.

Add the oats, cranberries, pecans, and white chocolate chips. You may have to stir them in by hand, but my Kitchen Aid mixer did a fine job on slow speed. 

Spoon dough in heaping teaspoonfuls onto parchment lined baking sheets. 

Bake at 325 degrees for 13 minutes, or until edges and bottoms are golden. The middle may look soft. Let sit on the cookie sheets for a minute or two to set, then transfer to a cooling rack. 

Fond Farewell Cherry Almond Tart

 

Cherry season is a highlight of summer for me. I love the sweet rich taste of cherries and enjoy them for as long as I can. However, the day comes when cherries are no longer in the markets. I bought what might be the last cherries for this year, and decided to make a cherry tart with them. 

This recipe is a combination of two from Laura Calder's book Paris Express. I will warn you that this is not a very sweet concoction. It's also a thin tart, and quite light to eat. I took it to dinner with friends and we all agreed that it would also be wonderful as breakfast. 

Let's start with the crust. It's an easy one, for the "pastry-phobic" as Laura Calder puts it. 

Pastry:

1 cup (125 g) flour

1/3 cup (70 g) butter, cut into pieces

1 Tablespoon icing sugar (I might increase this to 2 T)

1 teaspoon vanilla

Put all of the ingredients into a food processor, pulse to fine crumbs that are barely beginning to hold together, and place in a 9" tart pan with a removable bottom. Press the crumbs evenly to line the bottom and sides of the pan. You want a good amount on the sides, and really press the dough into the fluted sides. Chill for 15 minutes while you make the filling.

Frangipane Filling:

1/2 cup (70 g) ground almonds

1/4 cup (55 g) butter

1/4 cup (55 g) sugar

2 Tablespoons flour

1 egg yolk

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Put the almonds, butter, sugar, and flour in a food processor and pulse until a paste forms. Add the egg yolk and almond extract; pulse until combined. 

Cherries:

2 cups (375 g) fresh sweet cherries, pitted and halved

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the frangipane filling gently over the crust. The crust is fragile and I found it easiest to dot the frangipane over, then place it in the oven for 5 minutes to soften and make it easier to spread. 

Arrange the cherry halves over top of the filling. 

Bake 40 minutes. Remove from oven and cool before removing from the pan. Dust with a little sifted icing sugar, if desired. 

Panna Cotta with Summer Fruit

 

The ideal summer dessert, to me, is cool and light, and definitely something that can be made ahead. We're in the midst of our third heat wave this summer. Guests are coming for dinner and last night I put 8 lovely ramekins of Panna Cotta in the fridge where they will lounge about, coolly waiting for dinner. 

Yes, I unmolded one ahead of time to take the photo. 

The fruit is a cooked cherry compote to which I added fresh blackberries and the very last of our garden's blueberries. Any fruit would be good and I'll leave that part up to your imagination. 

Panna Cotta (for 6) 

1 cup whole milk

1 cup whipping cream (unwhipped)

1/3 cup sugar

2 teaspoons good vanilla

2 1/2 teaspoons unflavoured gelatin

2 Tablespoons cold water

1 cup plain yogurt (I used 3.5% fat)

Heat the whole milk and whipping cream along with the sugar in a saucepan over medium heat until it steams. Do not let it boil. 

Meanwhile, soften the gelatin in the cold water. 

When the milk is steaming, add the gelatin and stir until completely dissolved. Whisk in the vanilla and yogurt. 

Pour into individual ramekins which have been very lightly oiled. 

Place into the fridge for several hours. Unmold, or serve in the ramekins with a fresh fruit sauce, or simply a handful of summer berries. 

Blackberry Shrub

 

I had never heard of "shrub" drinks until a couple of years ago. They are a mixture of fruit, vinegar, and sugar that form a concentrated syrup that is then mixed with still or carbonated water, or other liquids. This blackberry shrub is also flavoured with cinnamon and makes a very refreshing drink on a hot summer day. You can mix the drink to your own strength, but 1-2 Tablespoons per glassful is usual. 

Blackberries are not yet ripe here on Vancouver Island, but I had some frozen from last summer and they worked well. I found this recipe in a Taste of Home Make-Ahead magazine. 

Blackberry Shrub

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blackberries, crushed

1 cinnamon stick 

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup water

1. Place the fruit and cinnamon stick in a sterilized quart jar. Bring the vinegar just to the boil; pour over the fruit, and screw the lid on tightly. Refrigerate for 2-5 days. 

2. Strain the vinegar mixture through a fine-meshed strainer. Press the fruit to extract as much of the juice as possible. Discard the cinnamon stick and the fruit. 

3. Bring the sugar and water to a boil and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and stir in the vinegar mixture. 

4. Store in a sterilized jar in the fridge for 2 weeks. 

5. To serve, add ice to glass, then 1-2 Tablespoons of syrup, and top with ice water, club soda, or sparkling water. 

Rhubarb Custard Pie

 

Our rhubarb plant is huge this year. I had some leftover pastry in the freezer and decided to make a Rhubarb Custard Pie. The pastry was a bit skimpy but I was able to roll out a decent crust, which I then blind baked before adding the filling. It's a pie that tastes best cold, I think. A bit of whipping cream would be a good topping, although it was fine without. 

Rhubarb Custard Pie

1 9-inch blind-baked pie crust

4 cups diced fresh rhubarb

1/4 cup sugar

Mix the above and place the rhubarb into the crust.

Whisk together the following ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

1/2 - 1 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg

3 eggs

2/3 cup cream (I used table cream - 18%)

2 Tablespoons melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

Pour the filling over the rhubarb and place in the oven. You may want to put the pie dish on a rimmed baking sheet in case of spills. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes.