Chocolate Candy Filled Chocolate Cookies

Now this is not my usual: I have been trying to avoid processed sugars and unhealthy food. In fact, one of my friends has persuaded me to try a juice detox coming up here soon! That being said, we had a couple of cool Canadian associates doing some training at my work for a couple weeks. A group of us locally-based associates took them out for a bar tour of Kansas City last weekend and good times were had by all. One of them who was sweet and vegetarian was leaving this last Friday, and for his departure I wanted to make a truly American cookie. In my mind this means extremely unhealthy. My first thought was chocolate chip, as to me this is very American but I was unable to find my chocolate chips and I ended up finding this recipe.

I put dark-chocolate covered salted caramels as the center for these bad-boys (since I had a Costco-sized container that's been living in my room, so many bad choices there I know). The original called for Snickers bites, but I have boycotted candies like that in recent years. A home-made snickers would be a fabulous cookie filler though. I also used craisins instead of chocolate chips since I was unable to find my chocolate chips this time and, somehow, all of my 85% bars have migrated to work <.<

I definitely plan to make this one again, but cutting the caramels in half and squishing them into a ball. There was way too much caramel and the cookies too large. It also meant I only had 13 to share which, among my self, my co-workers, and my house mates, isn't as much as I'd like to have.

Chocolate Candy Filled Chocolate Cookies
from Pretty. Simple. Sweet.
makes about 18 cookies

Ingredients:
125 g. flour (I used whole-wheat flour and it was fine in these)
42 g. cocoa powder, unsweetened
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
113 grams butter, softened
100 g. brown sugar
100 g. sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup small chocolate chips
16-18 candies
coarse sea salt, to sprinkle

Instructions:

make dough
1. In a medium bowl sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars for 3 minutes using electric mixer until fluffy, then beat in egg and vanilla to combine.
3. Add dry ingredients and gently mix with by hand or wooden spoon until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips, cover with damp towel, and chill for 1-2 hours or overnight (helps with cookie spread-age)
assemble and cook
1. Pre-heat oven to 350F and line a baking pan with a silicon mat.
2. Take 1 Tbs of cookie dough, press candy on top of it, and take another Tbs of cookie dough and press edges together until candy is completely sealed in dough.
3. Sprinkle cookies with sea salt (if desired) and bake for 8-10 minutes, until edges start to set. Let cool for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to finish cooling.

Sticky Walnut Tart

Ah! So my lofty-goal of posting every week seems to have gotten lost in the craziness that was the last month for me. Between a business trip to Philadelphia, hard-to-meet deadline for a project, trip to Chicago (first vacation!) and a 4-day weekend for the 4th, things have been a little bit insane. But: summer has finally kicked in, farmers markets are in full-swing, and I'm motivated and ready to go *determined face*

So with that, I present to you a delicious buttery tart that you will want to make for any gathering. Available in full and individual sizes.

Sticky Walnut Tart
slightly adapted from savorme

Ingredients:
1 sweet pastry crust (I used this recipe)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup honey (or golden syrup)
200 g butter
250 g walnuts

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Butter tart pan (or 6 individual tartlette pans) and line with pastry dough.
3. Blind bake crust for 15 minutes.
4. Melt together sugar, vanilla, honey, and butter in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Boil for 3 minutes, remove from heat, and stir in walnuts until well coated.
5. Dump walnuts and caramel into the tart pan and spread walnuts and caramel evenly. Bake for 17 minutes or so, until caramel is bubbling and walnuts are starting to darken on the top.
6. Allow to cool slightly or completely and serve.
Optional: sprinkle with sea salt

Radish Carrot Top Pesto Lasagna with Sage Infused Béchamel and Pan-roasted Carrots and Kale

On my recent locavore mission, I've been going to my local farmer's market on Saturdays and buying the fresh, local, in-season produce there, with ambitious goals to . But then throughout the week I find I have no time, energy or even drive to cook and get to the next weekend with a fridge full of not-as-fresh produce giving me the pouty-face for wasting their best days sitting in a cold waiting room. It really is a tragedy.

 This time, though, I didn't let that happen: I used ALL the local produce I had. Every last bit. I would have to say this is actually the most locally-based then I've ever made. If I had gotten the freshly-ground flour that can be found at the local Hy-vee and made the lasagna noodles, it would have been pretty much pure-local. Radishes, carrots, and kale from my local farmer's market, sage from my garden (my first garden produce of the year, from my first truly-mine garden!), milk, cream, and butter from Shatto, and Kansas City-made mozzarella from Hautly Cheese Company. This is light and hearty at the same time, and tastes just like spring.

Radish Carrot Top Pesto Lasagna with Sage Infused Béchamel and Pan-roasted Carrot Purée and Kale

Ingredients:
12 lasagna noodles
1 recipe raddish and carrot top pesto (below)
1 recipe sage-infused béchamel (recipe here)
1 recipe ricotta (recipe here)
1 bunch carrots
herb for carrots (I used rosemary)
1 Tbs. butter
salt, pepper
1 bunch kale
8 oz. mozzarella, grated
2 oz. Parmesan, grated

Instructions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 375F. 
2.. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil.
3. While water boils, melt butter in a cast-iron skillet on medium-heat. Add carrots and pan-roast with herb of choice, and sprinkle with salt.
4. Place a plate over the pan and cook until carrots are softened, stirring occasionally. When soft, food-process (adding oil if needed) until a purée is formed. Cover and set aside until assembly.
5. Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions. While cooking, make raddish and carrot-top pesto below.
6. Pour the lasagna water into a bowl with the washed kale, and let kale soak for a minute until kale is softened. Strain and squeeze as much liquid out of the kale as possible, and set aside.
7. Butter the lasagna dish, and assemble the lasagna: Pour 1/4 of the béchamel on the bottom of the pan. 
- Lay 4 noodles across the pan, slightly overlapping if need be. 
- Spread a layer of 1/2 the carrot purée, half the ricotta, half the carrot top pesto, half the kale, spreading out the leaves, and another 1/4th of the béchamel
Repeat above 2 bullet points for the next layer. Place remaining lasagna noodles on top, then remaining 1/4th of the béchamel on top and evenly sprinkle the mozzarella and Parmesan on top. 
8. Bake for 30 - 35 minutes, or until cheese on top starts to get golden-brown and bubbly. Remove from oven.
9. Let lasagna sit and set for 10-15 minutes before cutting and serving.

Raddish and Carrot-top Pesto
2 cups mixed carrot and/or radish tops, stems chopped off
1/3 cup toasted walnuts
2 - 4 Tbs. oil, as needed
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
1. In a food processor, pulse the walnuts until they are completely ground.
2. Add the tops and process until completely chopped, scraping down the sides as needed.
3. Process again, slowly adding oil until a nice paste is formed. Add salt and pepper to taste and put aside in a covered bowl until assembling lasagna.

Pumpkin Lasagna with Sage-infused Bechamel

This lasagna is a show-stopper. It's what I served at my first official dinner party:

My Bosnian family was moving to Boston (far away from the KC-area!) and one of our mutual friends had a small get-together where we all had snacks and celebrated our Bosnian family.

The Bosnian mother brought a beautiful gelatin cake on of her co-workers made for her. It was from a moulde, but it was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen food-wise. I broken vegetarian-edge for it *gasp!*

All the flowers were completely suspended within this thing, and it was 100% edible and (somehow) 100% gelatin-based food-stuffs, with the most delicate flavorings.

The mother is all about local, organic, seasonal natural-foods and since that's been my focus as of late, I proposed that night that I throw a dinner party the following day, as I thought I could whip up something everyone would enjoy : D

Appetizers:
Butternut Squash Tahini Dip with fresh locally-made pita bread (Olive Cafe)

Salad:
Citrus, Feta, Walnut Salad (without the squash)

Entree:
Pumpkin Lasagna (recipe shown below)
Blanched Green Beans with walnuts, walnut oil, and light salt

Desert:
Pear Almond Tart

I was pretty proud of myself after this dinner, not gonna lie. All in my mother's beautiful home and on her nice china (since they both live a few blocks away from each other in the burbs and my apartment is hardly of the dinner-party accommodating size) Though this has made me realize: I'm getting old. I'm addicted to NPR, I seriously enjoy throwing dinner parties, and I'm out-of-my-gourd excited to start working and being completely independent and responsible for myself. But if this is what getting old feels like, SIGN ME UP!

The picture shown above is a re-make (I was far too busy cooking and entertaining to take pictures at the time of the lasagna or the other dishes I made for the dinner), and I made it for my roommate from my Indian study abroad program when I visited her in her family home on Long Island, NY. It was beautiful and snowy, the perfect background for this winter-squash lasagna.

The original recipe calls for the pumpkin to be pureed, but I like it in layered strips for texture-sake. Also: you aren't limited to pumpkin, pretty much any squash would do. My original make of this lasagna was with pumpkin, the second one (featured above) is using butternut squash, as pumpkin was unavailable at the time.

Pumpkin Lasagna with Sage-infused Béchamel
from Gobo Root

Ingredients:
12 lasagna noodles
4 cups sage infused béchamel (recipe below)
1 pumpkin, peeled, sliced thinly, oiled, salted, and roasted
1.5 cups ricotta (recipe here)
1 large bunch Swiss chard, washed and leaves separated from stem
1 cup Parmesan, grated
1 cup mozzarella, shredded

Instructions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 375F. Cook noodles according to package instructions. Reserve cooking water and dunk Swiss chard into the water for a few minutes.
2.  Squeeze excess moisture from the chard and cut into 1" pieces. Set aside.
3. In the bottom of the baking dish, spread evenly 1/4th of the béchamel. Arrange 4 noodles over the sauce.
4. Top with 1/2 of the pumpkin slices, then 1/2 the ricotta, then half the Swiss chard and another 1/4th béchamel.
5. Repeat with second layer: 4 more lasagna noodles, last 1/2 of pumpkin slices, last 1/2 of ricotta, and last of swiss chard and last 1/4th of béchamel.
6. Lay remaining 4 lasagna noodles over the top, and sprinkle with parmesan and mozzarella evenly.
7. Bake until top is golden brown, about 30 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Sage-infused Béchamel
makes 4 cups

Ingredients:
4 cups milk
6 Tbs. butter
6 Tbs. flour
a sprig of sage
salt and pepper
ground nutmeg

Instructions:
1. Place milk and sage in a medium sauce pan and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and pour into a heat-proof bowl to let stand for 10 minutes. Discard leaves.
2. While milk is standing, melt butter in the sauce pan over low heat. Sprinkle in flour and stir quickly until flour has completely combined with butter. Let bubble for a few minutes until roux starts to smell nutty.
3. Turn heat up to medium and slowly add in sage-infused milk, whisking constantly.
4. Let sauce cook until thickened, and season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
5. Remove from heat and cover.

Cranberry Gingerbread Cookies

These delicious gingerbread cookies are soft will still having the gingerbread dry-texture. Enjoy with a glass of milk!

Cranberry Gingerbread Cookies
from Hy-Vee Seasons Magazine

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1.5 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup molasses
1 large egg
1 tsp grated orange peel
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup dried cranberries (craisins)
powdered sugar for dusting

Instructions:
1. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
2. In another medium (or large) bowl, beat butter and brown sugar with a mixter until smooth. Beat in molassas, egg, and orange peel.
3. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture to wet ingredients, and beat until just combined. Fold in walnuts and cranberries.
4. Divide dough in half. Roll each half into a 7" log, wrap in plastic wrap, and refridgerate for 1.5 hours (or freeze for 45 minutes).
5. Pre-heat oven to 350F. Unwrap logs, cut into 3/8" slides, and place 2" apart on an un-greased cookie sheet (use a silicon pad if you have one). Bake for 12 - 14 minutes, until light brown on the bottom. Lightly sift powdered sugar over cookies.

Butternut Squash and Ricotta Empanadas

These things are additively delicious. Please be careful!

Butternut Squash and Ricotta Empanadas
from Sandy Hoopes

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 cup butter, cold and diced
3/4 cup ice water

2.5 cups butternut squash, diced very small
3 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs oregano or rosemary, diced
1/2 tsp crushed red chili pepper
2 eggs, divided
1.5 cups ricotta (recipe here)
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 Tbs parsely, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 Tbs milk

Instructions:
1. In a food processor combine flour, salt, and sugar. Add butter and process until just incorporated. Slowly drizzle in water while processing until water dough mostly comes together. Dump onto a surface, shape into a disk, wrap in plastic, and refridgerate for at least an hour.
2. Preheat oven to 400F.
3. Peel, seed, and dice butternut squash (very small-ly). In a large bowl, combine the squash, oil, herbs, and chili pepper. Spread onto a baking sheet and bake for 15-17 minutes, until fork tender. Then remove from oven and chill.
4. In a medium bowl, lightly beat an egg. Then add ricotta, parmesan, parsely, salt, and pepper. Cover and chill.
5. Roll out the dough into 1/8" thick circles. Cut into 4" circles with a biscuit/cookie cutter.
6. Place a spoonful of chilled squash and a spoonful of ricotta onto the center of each circle. Fold one half over the filling to form a half-moon, then seal the edges by pressing with your fingers (or a fork). Then fold the edge back to create a ridge around the seam. Place onto a baking pan lined with foil or parchment paper.
7. In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg with the milk. Brush over the empanadas, cut 3 small holes into the top of each, and bake for 16 minutes (or deep fry)

Avocado Scrambled Eggs

Basically this is just another way to eat more avocado than you're already eating x.x The avocados give such a great, creamy texture to the eggs.

Avocado Scrambled Eggs
from Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts
serves 2

Ingredients:
4 eggs
2 Tbs milk
2 tsp. butter
1 avocado, diced
salt and pepper
2 tsp. chives, chopped (to garnish)

Instructions:
1. Melt butter in a skillet over medium-low heat.
2. Beat together milk, eggs, and salt and pepper.
3. Once butter is melted, swirl to coat pan and add eggs.
4. Cook eggs until they start to set, add in avocado, and cook until eggs are fully cooked. Serve with chives sprinkled on top.

Apple Onion Cheese Gratin

This pairs well with a hearty salad and a glass of white wine. The apples I used were from my family's trees at home, so the brown sugar wasn't necessary. It ended up being quite sweet naturally. Thank you fall for your bounteous goods!

Apple Onion Cheese Gratin
from Erza Pound Cake (originally from Moosewood New Restaurant Classics)

Ingredients:
1 cup milk
1 Tbs. butter
1 Tbs. flour
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
4 cups apples, peeled, cored, and diced
1 cup chopped onion
2 cups cheddar (or Gruyère), grated
1 cup pecans, chopped
1 cup breadcrumbs
2 Tbs. brown sugar (optional)

Instructions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 350F. Lightly oil a 11" x 7" (3 qt.) baking dish.
2. In a small pot, scald milk over medium heat, just before boiling but not after.
3. In another small pot, melt butter over medium heat. Then whisk in flour until fully combined.
4. Slowly whisk in the scalded milk. Add nutmeg, salt, and cloves, and whisk continuously until the sauce starts to thicken.
5. Spread apples and onions evenly in prepared dish. Sprinkle the grated cheese over, and then pour the sauce on top.
6. Sprinkle over the pecans, bread crumbs, and sugar (if using). Bake for 45 minutes, until the top is golden and crisp.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup with Rice

Hardy go-to broccoli cheddar soup with on-hand ingredients. My family loved it!

Broccoli Cheddar Soup with Rice
from dksCooks

Ingredients:
1 medium onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
5 Tbs. butter, divided
1/4 cup flour
2 cups cream (or milk)
3 cups chick'n (or vegetable) broth
1/2 lb. broccoli florrets
1/4 ts. all-spice
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups sharp cheddar, grated
2 cups prepared brown rice

Instructions:
1. Heat 1 Tbs. butter in a skillet on medium heat. Add onion and garlic, and saute until golden-brown.
2. In a medium pot, whisk remaining butter and flour over medium heat for 2-3 minutes until golden brown. Slowly whisk in cream and broth and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Add broccoli and onion-garlic mix and continue to simmer until broccoli is tender (~6 mins). Add all-spice and season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Stir in cheese until incorporated. Put a scoop of brown rice into individual bowls, ladle in soup, and serve.

Zucchini Cheese Quiche

My favorite thing about this quiche was how healthy it tasted. The thick zucchini pieces and whole wheat crust balance out the rich cheese custard in between, far better than the majority of the tarts/quiches that I make. Feel free to substitute different cheeses. The original used goat cheese.

Zucchini Cheese Quiche
adapted from ArtKulinaria

Ingredients:
1 whole wheat crust (recipe below)
3 - 4 skinny zucchini, enough to fill tart pan when cut to tart pan height
3 eggs
50 ml. cream or milk
90 g. Irish cheese + more for sprinkling
pepper
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced

Instructions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 375F.
2. Bring water to a simmer in a steamer. Cut the zucchini into equal pieces, the height of the tart pan. Steam zucchini for 3 minutes.
3. Brush olive oil over crust, and evenly sprinkle garlic. Then nestle in zucchini into the tart standing on their ends.
4. Whisk together eggs, cream, cheese, and pepper. Pour between the zucchini in the tart, then sprinkle top of tart with cheese.
5. Bake for 20 minutes, and let set 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Whole Wheat Crust
from ArtKulinaria

Ingredients:
250 g. wheat flour
125 g. butter
5 g. salt
50 mL water

Instructions:
1. Combine flour and salt in a food processor, and pulse a few times to combine. Then add butter, and pulse until butter is incorporated.
2. Slowly drizzle water until dough starts to come together. Pour dough out, shape into a flat disk, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Pre-heat oven to 375F. Roll out dough into shape of a deep-tart pan, and fit dough into the pan.
4. Line dough with foil, add pie weights, and bake for 15-20 minutes. Then remove weights and foil and bake for another 5-10 minutes. Let crust cool before using.

Vareniki (Cheese Dumplings)

This is my second recipe in my Russian collection. Serve with a side of borscht (recipe here) and hot tea!

Note: pan-frying is recommended, but optional. After dumplings have been boiled, pre-he a a large skillet on medium-high heat with half of butter (2 Tbs) and lightly fry each side of the dumplings.

Vareniki (Cheese Dumplings)
from SheSimmers

Ingredients:
1/2 lb. ricotta (farmers' cheese) (ricotta recipe here)
1 egg
2 Tbs. sugar (omit for savory dumplings)
1/4 tsp. salt
1.5 cups flour
4 Tbs. butter
sour cream, to serve with
veggie bacon bits, caramelized shallot, sauerkraut, to serve (optional)

Instructions:
1.  Set a large pot on the stove filled half-way with water to boil.
2. Whisk egg, cheese, sugar, and salt together in a mixing bowl until well combined.
3. Stir in flour, and mix until combined enough to turn over onto the counter and kneed. Flour counter if necessary and kneed just until a ball is formed.
4. Divide dough into 4 pieces, and roll each piece into a 1/2" thick rope, and cut into 2" pieces, then flatten a bit in the middle if intending to pan-fry.
5.  Drop the vareniki into the pot of water. When they float to the top, remove them from the water and combine with butter in a medium-bowl.
6. Serve with add-ins.

Sweet Potato Schupfnudeln with Brown Butter and Thyme

 These delicious little things are basically sweet potato gnocchi, rolled long and pan-fried. Definitely worth the work. You could probably serve these with simple olive oil and grated Parmesan.

Sweet Potato Schupfnudeln with Brown Butter and Thyme
from 1 big bite

Ingredients:
1 lb. sweet potato
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
5 Tbs. flour + more (I used quite a bit more)
2 tsp. ghee (or oil) + more as needed

for browned butter:
5.3 Tbs. butter
5 sprigs thyme

Instructions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 450F. Pierce sweet potato all over with a fork, and bake on a lined baking sheet (or I used my bread pan) and bake for 30-45 minutes, or until a fork slides easily through the flesh.
2. After sweet potato has cooled for a bit, mash with a fork and add yolk, salt, nutmeg, and flour. Once thoroughly combined, add just enough flour to get a dough that comes together nicely (may be a little sticky)
3. Dust hands and cutting board with flour. Form a log, and cut into ieces until each piece is finger-length and thick.
4. Heat pan to medium-high heat, and melt ghee. Cook schupfnudeln until golden brown, rotating so at least 3 sides of each are browned.
5. Garnish with browned butter and leaves of 2 thyme sprigs.

for browned butter:
1. Add butter and leaves of 3 springs of thyme to sauce pan over medium heat. Once butter has melted, stir until little brown specks form at the bottom. Take off heat, and drizzle over schupfnudeln.

Cream Cheese Syrup

Delicious on pancakes, especially carrot cake pancakes (recipe here)!

Note: For the buttermilk, I used the yogurt substitute (2 Tbs. milk + enough plain yogurt to fill up to 1 cup line), found on this great buttermilk substitute post.

Cream Cheese Syrup
from Cooking Classy

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup buttermilk (note above)
4 oz. cream cheese
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions:
1. Melt butter in a large sauce pan over low heat. Stir in sugar, buttermilk, and cream cheese.
2. Cook mixture, whisking constantly until cream cheese has melted. Stir in baking soda and whisk for 10 seconds, until frothy.
3. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Serve warm.

Store in refrigerator for up to 1 week and reheat before serving.

Mushroom Corn Browned Butter Sage Sauce

This was the epic dinner I cooked for my friends the Saturday night when my good friend was in town (right before going off to India! He's there now, as I post this : ) So excited for him!!) Lets just say I was fattening him up on western food one last time before he went off to lose weight in the East.

Mushroom Corn Browned Butter Sage Sauce
from Cookbook of the Month

Ingredients:
1 lb. short spiral pasta or ricotta gnocchi, cooked
1.5 cups fresh breadcrumbs
4 Tbs. olive oil, divided
7 Tbs. butter, divided
1 lb. mushrooms, cleaned and sliced uniformely
1 Tbs. fresh thyme leaves
1 Tbs. fresh sage leaves, slice
4 ears of corn, kernels stripped
2 large shallots, finely diced
1.25 c. flat-leaf parsley, chopped (optional)
salt and pepper

Instructions:
1. Heat 2 Tbs. olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add breadcrumbs and stir to coat with oil. Cook, stirring occassionally, until breadcrumbs are toasted and golden brown. Remove from pan and set aside.
2.  Add remaining 2 Tbs. olive oil plus 1 Tbs. butter to pan, and heat until butter foams. Add mushrooms, thyme, 1/2 tsp. salt, and pepper. Saute mushrooms, not stirring too much, until most sides are carmalized. Set aside.
3. Add remaining 6 Tbs. of butter to the pan, and cook until butter browns and smells nutty. Scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pan, add sage, and cook for 1 minute until it sizzles. Add corn, shallots, 1 tsp. salt, and pepper. Saute, stirring frequently, until corn is tender (2-4 minutes).
4. Add prepared pasta to the pan, and toss to coat with butter. Add mushrooms, breadcrumbs, and parsely and stir to combine. Heat the dish if necessary.
5. Season to taste, and serve hot.

Frangipane (Almond Cream)

Frangipane (Almond Cream)
from Yasmine's Kitchen

Ingredients:
100 grams blanched almonds (3/4 cups)
100 grams sugar (1/2 cup)
100 grams butter (1 stick)
2 tsp. cake flour (regular flour works too)
1 tsp. corn starch
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg + 1 egg white, beaten together
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions:
1.  In a food processor, grind up almonds to a fine texture. Add flour, cornstarch and salt, and pulse a few times to combine.
2. Add sugar, and pulse to combine. Add butter, and pulse until mixed in.
3. Add eggs slowly and pulse until a runny paste is formed. Mix in vanilla extract and refrigerated until used.

Pâte sablée

Pâte sablée
from Yasmine's Kitchen

Ingredients:
125 g. butter, cold, cut into small cutes
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg yolk, beaten with a drop of vanilla extract

Instructions:
1. Put flour, sugar, and salt in food processor and pulse to combine. Add butter, and pulse until texture is like coarse cornmeal.
2. Add egg yolk, and combine until dough seems less dry (don't wait for dough to come together, test to see if mixture comes together when you squeeze a pinch)
3. Butter a tart pan, and press in dough evenly, not pressing too hard. Cover with tin foil and freeze for 40 minutes or more.
4. Pre-heat oven to 375 F, and cook crust for 20-25 minutes not letting it brown. Let cool before using.

Cookie Bars

Cookie Bars
from food.com


Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup butter, softened
3/5 cup sugar
3/4 cups packed brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 - 12 oz. package semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Instructions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 375 F, and grease a 15"x10" jelly roll pan.
2. In a small bowl combine flour, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a large bowl, cream butter, sugars, and vanilla with an electric mixer. Then add eggs one at a time, beating after each egg.
4. Gradually combine flour mixture with butter mixture. Then stir in chocolate chips and nuts.
5. Spread evenly into pan, and bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

French Onion Soup

Definitely one of the most delicious and professional made things I've ever done. So tasty, and a French girl who was over eating gave it the official seal of approval. Win!

I adapted Alton Brown's French Onion Soup recipe to be vegetarian. I think I did a good job : )

French Onion Soup
adapted from Alton Brown

Ingredients:
4 lbs. sweet onions
3 Tbs. butter
2 tsp. salt
2 cups white wine
20 oz. vegetable broth
10 oz. apple cider or juice
Bouquet garni: thyme sprigs, bay leaf, and parsley tied together with string
1 loaf french bread
salt and pepper
splash cognac
1 cup Gruyere cheese, grated

Instructions:
1. Heat 2 large pans on medium-high heat. Slice onions into thin half moons.
2. Divide butter into the two pans, melt, and then add onions. Add 1 tsp. salt to each pan. Cook, scrapping bottom of pan constantly, until all onions are completely caramelized (25 minutes).
3. Combine caramelized onions into one pan, and add enough wine to cover onions, and turn heat to high until wine is reduced to syrupy consistency.
4. Add broth, apple cider, and boquet garni to pan. Reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
5. Heat broiler in oven, placing rack in top 1/3rd of oven.
6. Cut about 1/4th of the french loaf into 1" cubes. Place on backing sheet, and broil bread cubes for 1 minute.
7. Season soup mixture with salt, pepper, and cognac. Remove boquet garni and ladle soup into ramekins. Place bread cubes into ramekins, and cover with grated Gruyere. Place ramekins on baking sheet or pan, and broil for 1-2 minutes, until cheese is golden and bubbly.