Perfect Shortbread Cookies

I don't like making cookies.  Too time consuming and the product doesn't seem worth all the effort unless the cookie is perfect.  This one is...

Preheat oven to 350° F

Ingredients:

1 cup of butter ---must be at room temperature

1 cup of sugar

2 tsps. of vanilla

3 cups of flour

1/2 tsp. of salt

In a Kitchenaid or good mixer with dough paddle inserted, put butter and sugar.  Cream the butter well on low speed.  If you don't have a Kitchenaid, a food processor works with the plastic dough hook but don't overprocess.  Add the vanilla...mix until incorporated.  Add the flour and salt.  Mix until a great dough forms.  Put the dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Allow oven to preheat while the dough is in the fridge resting.

Take a 9 x 11 disposable aluminum baking pan and put dough in pan.  No need to do anything to the baking pan.  Press down until all dough fits. 

Bake 15 to 20 until the edges are slightly brown.

Remove the pan from the oven and place on a rack.  Cut the cookies into rectangular shapes while warm (I use my ravioli cutter so the edges look pretty).  Place on a rack to cool.

Technically, you now have perfect cookies.  However, many cooks like to finish these off by dipping in melted chocolate or topping with sprinkles. 

Chocolate topping:

Melt chocolate with a 1/4 cup of Nutella and a little butter in the microwave on low speed until melted.  Add some premade coffee (just enough to make a creamy melt).  Mix with a fork.  Dip one half of each cookie in the chocolate.  Place on rack to cool.  Add sprinkles or whatever.

Cookies will keep for a couple of weeks in fridge.

Saturday Soup

My grandmother, Lucy Piermarini, was a wonderful cook.  Because she was my caregiver when my mother worked, she taught me how to cook all the regional dishes of Tuscany and many great recipes from her Roman heritage.  Because she never wasted anything, she would make a large (18 quart) pot of soup on Saturday which would become the first course for our weekly Sunday dinner.  Soup is always comforting so this recipe can serve you well if you put it in a slow cooker and walk away.

In a slow cooker, pour in 64 ounces of chicken stock or beef stock.  Set the temperature on low.  Add 3 tbl.  of tomato paste, three bay leaves and six cloves of garlic, crushed.  This is the basic stock when you make this soup.  To enhance the flavor of the broth, you can add demi glace, a little wine, etc.  For really great flavor, add a rind of parmiagiano reggiano or any frozen rind of cheese (always freeze the rinds because they are a fabulous addition to soups and stews).  A ham hock works well too...be creative!

From the fridge, add all vegetables, meat products, beans and rice to the stock.  Let this simmer all day, with a dash of salt and pepper.  About 30 minutes before serving, add any leftover pasta.  Serve with a crusty loaf of Italian bread and grated imported Italian cheese.

Chicken Caesar Salad

This is a very quick, easy dinner to make on a very hot summer day.  Either buy one of those ready to mix kits that comes with everything but the chicken or use the recipe below.  You'll be happy with either one.

Ingredients:

Romaine lettuce, washed, dried and broken into bite sized pieces

1 hard boiled egg

Bacon bits (buy the packaged ones for quick assembly)

Croutons (buy a good package of garlic/butter croutons)

Chicken pieces (use either rotisserie chicken from the store or leftover chicken from another meal

Caesar dressing

Break the romaine lettuce into bite sized pieces and scatter in a platter.  Crumble a hard boiled egg and scatter two or three pieces of bacon over the lettuce.  Shred the chicken pieces into bite sized portions.  Sprinkle croutons.  Add dressing before serving. 

Deviled Eggs

Deviled Eggs

My husband's grandmother, Cecile Ellis, loved to entertain.  Sunday dinner with her was a pleasure. She cooked simply and always started the meal with appetizers and cocktails.  She loved to make deviled eggs and the base recipe for this version is hers.  I felt compelled to embellish the recipe and this little treasure is limited only by your imagination.  You can basically do anything to it.  My recommendation is to do the filling at least a day ahead of serving time.  This enhances the flavors of the ingredients.  For those of you who pay attention to detail, the filling in the above picture is the deviled egg mixture on a cracker....I have not yet filled my hard boiled eggs with the mixture....

Ingredients:

6 hard-boiled eggs

1 to 2 cans of deviled ham 

mayonnaise

poppy seeds

apple-smoked bacon

Chives (chopped very fine and optional)

Hard boil the eggs.  Allow to cool thoroughly.  Remove shells.  Slice four of the eggs in half and scoop out the yolks.  Put the yolks into a deep bowl.   Add the two remaining eggs to the bowl. Using a fork, crush the eggs and yolks until you get a fairly fine mixture.  

Add mayo to taste (about 1/3 of a cup).  Add salt, pepper and 4 ounces of crushed bacon bits.  Stir the contents of the bowl thoroughly.  Sprinkle the mixture with poppy seeds and mix well.  (I know poppy seeds sound odd but this gives the mixture a distinctive texture which I love.)  If you choose to add chives, do so now.  Mix well.  Cover the mixture and refrigerate.   Put the reserved eggs in a container and refrigerate.  

To serve, fill the eggs with the mixture.  

IMPORTANT NOTE:

This mixture can be used for just about anything:  sandwiches; stuffing for poultry or fish; toast points; celery sticks.......live wildly!

Meatloaf

Meatloaf is the ultimate comfort food...it can be made with any variety of meat or made with tofu as a vegetarian dish.  It is not so much what is put into it that matters...more importantly, it is how the ingredients are added that is important.  The best meatloaf is made well ahead of baking time (six to eight hours) and refrigerated to allow all the flavors in the mixture to meld together.  Be bold and creative...there is no real way to mess up meatloaf unless you cook it too long in the oven.  (This results in a very dry, not so tasty, dinner).   Anything goes well with meatloaf.  My husband likes ketchup but I prefer gravy.  Potatoes, pasta, or a compatible starch works and a great green vegetable. Add a little wine, some candlelight, and you turn a plain meal into a special one.

Ingredients:

1 lb. of ground meat

1 egg

breadcrumbs (flavored are good...sometimes I grind up Stouffer's stuffing mix as my breadcrumbs)

1 tsp. of soy sauce

sauteed mushrooms

a little bit of liquid (chicken stock; heavy cream, etc)

Mix all ingredients and cover bowl with plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for six or more hours.

Preheat oven to 350F

Place meat mixture in loaf pan.  Bake for 30 to 45 minutes, until you see the juices bubbling.

Delicious!!!

Apple Pie

 Preheat oven to 400F

My mother-in-law, Elizabeth Marshall,  made a terrific apple pie.  She got Northern Spy apples whenever they were available, and otherwise, chose a very tart apple.  The key to this pie is allowing the apples to macerate for at least an hour, more if possible.  Don't overcook the pie.

2 pie crusts

8 very tart apples (Granny Smith)

1/2 cup of sugar (turbinado)

½ cup of dark molasses

½ cup of melted butter flavored Crisco

Juice of one half of a lemon

2 tsps. of corn starch

Peel and core apples and slice into pieces.  Put all the apples in a deep bowl and place all the other ingredients in the bowl.  Allow this mixture to sit at room temperature for at least an hour. 

Before you put the apples in the crust, sift the corn starch into the mixture and toss well with a fork until well blended.

Put the first crust in the pie pan and add  the apple mixture.  I usually put a few pats of butter on the apple filling before adding the second crust.   Cut the crust in a few places with a sharp knife to allow steam to evaporate.

Bake for at least 45 minutes  or until a knife inserted  in the apples shows the apples are soft and cooked.

A Tour of Virginia --- Charlottesville

A Tour of Virginia --- Charlottesville

Charlottesville has a lot to offer and one of the more enjoyable forms of entertainment is a walking, food tasting tour of the city.  This adventure features stops at area restaurants, local establishments and sweet delicacies.

We began our tour at Shebeen's, enjoying the Durban Spiced Chicken with delicate flavors of African spice, lemon and complementary sauces, served over a bed of delicious grits.  Our guide, Deborah, was delightfully informative of the history of Charlottesville and each location we visited.

The West Main Diner is located in a historic building and serves up delicious food.  We enjoyed the four-cheese Macaroni and Cheese Dinner.  

The next two stops were at Feast and The Organic Butcher, both located in the same area, and both fascinating.  Feast offers a unique blend of local and exquisite foods that add a splash of pizzazz to any table.  The Organic Butcher is a meat lover's heaven...an old-fashioned butcher shop that cuts your favorite meat any way you like it.  

When I first got to Charlottesville, I looked up all the diners.  I love diner food and was delighted to learn that one of the stops on this tour was The Blue Moon Diner.  I was not happy to learn that the food item we would be tasting was golden beets.  Since I despise beets, I still embraced the chance to learn about the diner.  We were warmly received by the owners and promptly served the beet dish.  I have to say that this dish was the most surprising food dish I have ever eaten and easily one of the best.  This dish was worthy of the price we paid for the tour.

We capped off our day with a trip to Pearl's Bake Shoppe where we promptly bought a box of cupcakes for my daughter, Kim, and her husband, Christopher, who had gifted us with this tour.  

We finished our adventure at Gearharts Fine Chocolates where we were treated to some fine, hand-crafted chocolates created by chocolatier, Tim Gearhart.  Although by the time of day we arrived at the shop, the chocolates were fast disappearing, we were able to choose delightful concoctions that not only were visibly quite fascinating but equally pleasing to the palate.

This Tour satisfies on many levels, combining a look at the history of Charlottesville with a great introduction to the food of Charlottesville, Virginia.  Sign Up!!!

https://www.tasteofvirginiafoodtours.com/