Cranberry & Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients

2/3 cup (150 mL) unsalted butter 
2/3 cup (150 mL) packed brown sugar 
2 eggs 
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) old-fashioned rolled oats 
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) all purpose flour 
1 tsp (5 mL) baking soda 
1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt 
1 pkg (6 oz / 142 g) dried cranberries 
2/3 cup (150 mL) white or semi-sweet chocolate chips, optional

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). 

Using electric mixer, beat butter or margarine and sugar together in a medium mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs; mix well. 

Combine oats, flour, baking soda and salt in a separate mixing bowl. Add to butter mixture in several additions, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the dries cranberries and chocolate chips. 

Drop by rounded tablespoons (15 mL measures) onto ungreased cookie sheets. Press each one down slightly.  Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown. 

Makes 2 dozen large cookies. 

Cranberry Pecan Tassies

It's Cranberry season in Muskoka in Northern Ontario! These lovely berries are tart and crisp and great in desserts or to make Cranberry Sauce for Thanksgiving. These mini tarts are so delicious - they won't last long.  Easy to make as you press the dough into the tart pans.  Look for the tart pans that have sides that slant, or mini muffin tins. You could also make regular size tarts, but the little ones look so nice at Thanksgiving. 

Dough:

Blend 3 oz cream cheese and 1/2 cup unsalted butter (room temp)

Stir in 1 cup of flour.  Chill about one hour.

Shape into 2 dozen 1 inch balls.  Place in ungreased mini muffin pan - (shallow about 1 3/4" wide).  Press dough evenly against the bottom and sides.

Filling:

Beat together:

1 egg

3/4 cup brown sugar (or reduce to 2/3 cup)

1 tbsp butter, soft or melted

1 tbsp vanilla

1 tsp grated orange rind

Stir in :

2 Tbsp chopped pecans

1/3 cup finely chopped cranberries  (frozen, fresh or dried)

Spoon filling into pastry lined cups.  About 1 Tbsp of filling per tart

Bake at 325F for about 20 mins till filling is set and crust is light brown.  Cool in pans for 5 minutes and then remove to a rack to cool.

Makes 24 mini tarts or 12 regular tarts 

(You can use your own butter tart recipe and use this filling).

Thai Chicken Noodle Salad

Serves 6-8 
(Recipe can be halved)

Ingredients 

1 package of Chinese egg noodles - 200-300g

  or pad Thai rice noodles of preferable (follow cooking directions)

6 sliced green onions 
1 bunch fresh coriander (cilantro) about 1/4 cup chopped
1 package of fresh bean sprouts (optional)
2 grated carrots 
1/2 red pepper chopped or sliced
4 boneless chicken breasts * or 200g of prepared tofu


Dressing

(Shake in a jar till combined)

4 TBS soy sauce 
4 TBS peanut oil or sunflower oil
2 TBS sesame oil
2 TBS lime or lemon juice (fresh)
2 TBS sweet chili sauce

Cook the chicken either by poaching with a bit of ginger & garlic, or bake it gently (about 20 minutes at 350F).  Do not overcook or chicken will be dry.   
Cool the chicken and then slice it thinly across the breast.

Follow this link for the perfect poached chicken breasts - super easy! This is the best method to cook 

the chicken and you will discover many other ways to use poached chicken in recipes. 

Poached Chicken Breasts

Directions: 

Cook the egg noodles about 4 minutes or until done.  Run under cold water to rinse.  Then cut the noodles randomly with scissors.

If you are using the bean sprouts, make sure they are fresh and rinse and dry them prior to use. 

Combine the noodles, onion, coriander, sprouts, carrots, red pepper & chicken.  Then add the dressing and toss.  The salad can be done the day before serving, or at least a few hours before serving to allow the flavors to blend.

Variation: Add steamed asparagus, steamed green beans,  or snow peas and substitute shrimp for the chicken.  For a vegan option, use tofu which has been fried and cooled, or pre made ready to serve tofu.

Use grilled chicken, and baby romaine or iceberg lettuce instead of the egg noodles. 

Blueberry Orange Cake

Ingredients

3/4 cup unsalted butter (175 ml)
1 1/2 cups white sugar (375 ml)
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
Finely chopped peel of 2 oranges
2 cups all-purpose flour (500 ml)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder (7 ml)
3/4 cup milk (175 ml)
1 1/2 cups blueberries (wild, fresh preferably)  (375 ml) *
2 Tbs all-purpose flour

* If you are using frozen wild blueberries, rinse them to get the ice crystals off, and then dry in paper towels.

Glaze

3 Tbs frozen orange juice concentrate (50 ml)
1 cup sifted icing sugar (250 ml)

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 350F (180C)

1.  Grease a 10-inch (25 cm) tube pan and dust with flour.

2.  Cream the butter until light and fluffy; slowly beat in the sugar with an electric mixer (or you can use a sugar substitute) until blended.

3.  Add the eggs, one at a time and beat well after each addition.  Beat in the vanilla and orange peel. Peel the orange rind using a potato peeler, and avoid getting any of the white part of the peel. Then finely chop the peel with a knife.

4.  Sift 2 cups of flour and baking powder together; add to batter alternatively with the milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Use a wooden spoon or spatula. Mix only until blended.  Do not overmix.

5.  Toss the blueberries with the 2 tablespoons of flour and gently fold into the batter.
 Spoon into the prepared pan. And spread out evenly with a spatula.

6.  Bake at 350F (180C) for 50-55 minutes or until the center of the cake is firm. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan before turning out to cool on a rack.

For the glaze, mix the sugar with the orange juice concentrate and add more liquid if needed. While the cake is still warm, drizzle the icing over the top. The glaze is optional. You can also just dust the top of the cake with sifted icing sugar (powdered sugar).

Henry's Sauerkraut

This recipe is from my friend Nadine. Her husband makes this sauerkraut and we tried it at Christmas with perogies. It was delicious. Probably the bacon!

Ingredients 

1 Jar of Sauerkraut (drained)
2 medium Onions, chopped
8 or more slices of bacon (chopped)
1/2 tbs of brown sugar

Directions

Henry says:  Don't skimp on the onions. Don't skimp on the bacon.
Fry the bacon slowly in the pot.
Remove the bacon and save.
Fry the onions in the pot, in the bacon grease. Use low-medium heat to caramelize them.
You can put some water in half way through to keep them moist and avoid burning.
Put the sauerkraut, and bacon into the pot. Add the pinch of sugar. Stir well.
Cover and put in the oven to keep warm Add some water if it gets a bit dry.

Coconut Macaroons

When living in Toronto, we used to sign up for cooking classes with Bonnie Stern's cooking School downtown. It always a fun night out with your girlfriends. In this recipe,  you can drizzle melted chocolate on the macaroons (dark semi-sweet), for a finishing touch.
Ingredients
4 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp kosher salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 1/2 cups unsweetened dried large flaked coconut
Directions
Place egg whites, vanilla and salt in a large stainless steel bowl. Stir in sugar and then coconut. 2. Set bowl in a skillet of gently simmering water and stir for 5 to 7 minutes with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula until hot to the touch. Let batter rest 30 minutes at room temperature. 3. Mound about 2 tbsp of coconut mixture for each cookie on 2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake in a preheated 350F oven about 5 minutes until just barely starting to brown at the tips of the coconut. Reduce oven temperature to 325F, rotate pans and bake 10 to 15 minutes longer until cookies are different shades of cream, gold and brown. Cool on racks.

Almond Pistachio Cherry Bark

Use the best chocolate you can find for this recipe. 

Ingredients 

1 lb. bittersweet Callebaut Chocolate (chopped into pieces) 

1/2 cup roasted unsalted almonds

1/4 cup unsalted pistachio nuts

1/4 cup dried cherries

Directions 

1.  Melt the chocolate over a double boiler or in a bowl over simmering water. 

2.  If you don't have roasted almonds, buy raw almonds and bake them in a 350F oven for about 10-15 minutes till they're lightly toasted.  Cool them before adding to the chocolate. Add the nuts/fruit and mix well.

3.  Line a baking sheet with plastic wrap or parchment paper.  Spread the chocolate mixture out to a thin bark.  Spread the nuts and fruit equally so it's about 1/4" thick. 

4.  Put in the fridge for 10-15 minutes to cool.

5.  Remove plastic and break the bark into pieces.  Store at room temp. 

You can use cashews, orange peel, raisins or other dried fruit to make different kinds. 

The chocolate is available at Whole Foods or Wild Oats or kitchen specialty shops.  Bittersweet is preferable, but semi-sweet works as well.