Mocha Biscotti

This is a great biscotti recipe, very dense but full of flavor. It came from a friend of a friend as a copy out of a cook book, so my only reference is "New Italian Cooking." I am unaware of the author. I have made a few edits of my own, so maybe that changes the need for reference! Enjoy!

Mocha Biscotti
2 Tablespoons instant espresso or coffee crystals (when I am out, I use VERY finely ground coffee beans)
1 Tablespoon boiling water
1 cup sugar (I use brown)
1 stick butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped semi-sweet chocolate (mini chips would work too)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted (I used whole raw almonds, toasted, and they were good but they did not slice well)

Preheat oven to 350. Dissolve coffee crystals (or finely ground coffee beans) in hot water in a small bowl. Allow to cool. Beat sugar, butter, vanilla, and eggs in mixer bowl. Add coffee mixture. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Add half of this to the butter mixture and mix well. Add almonds and chocolate, then remaining flour mixture. This will be a heavy, stiff dough. With floured hands, divide the dough into 2 balls and shape into logs on a large baking sheet covered with parchment, about 2-3 inches wide by about 1 inch high and as long as it will make at those dimensions. They can sit side-by-side on one pan. Bake about 30 minutes or until firm in the center. Keep oven at 350 after removing logs. Cool on the cookie sheet about 15 minutes.

When cool enough to handle (but still quite warm) slice into 1/2-inch slices (or a little thicker if you prefer). I like to stand the slices up on their bottom to avoid having to flip over halfway during the 2nd baking, but you may lay them on their sides. Bake another 15 or 20 minutes, turning once if lying down. Cool on wire rack. If you like an exceptionally crisp cookie, return them to the oven after turning it off and allow them to cool with the oven, watching to make sure they do not continue browning. If you freeze them, return to a hot oven for 5 minutes or so to refresh after they have thawed completely and come to room temperature.

Family Meatloaf with Gravy

This recipe freezes well...make a double batch, bake both, and freeze one with gravy!

1-1/2 pound ground Chuck
1/2 pound Bob Evans bulk Italian sausage
1/2 cup onion, finely minced
1/4 cup celery, finely minced
1/4 teaspoon finely minced garlic
3/4 cup fresh bread crumbs
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt
fresh pepper

Make breadcrumbs in food processor until finely chopped. Set aside in a large bowl. Mince onions, celery, and garlic in food processor and add to bread crumbs. Stir in the egg, milk, salt and pepper. Break up the sausage and mix well into the bread crumb mixture. Break up the beef and mix well. Shape into loaf. Bake at 350 for about 50-60 minutes. Allow to sit without slicing for at least 10-15 minutes tented with foil. Pass gravy separately. If freezing, I like to submerge the meatloaf in the gravy to help retain moisture in the meatloaf.

Gravy

2 Tablespoons flour
2 Tablespoons fat (bacon grease, lard, butter, suet, or olive oil)
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves, crumbled
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
1/4 teaspoon dried ground fennel
1/4 teaspoon (or more) fresh ground pepper
2 cups beef broth

Melt fat and stir in flour. Cook until bubbling and browning to a golden brown color. Add all spices and let cook for a minute. Whisk in the broth slowly and stir very well until free of lumps. Taste for salt and adjust accordingly. Bring to boil, stirring almost constantly, until thickened.

Sauteed Brussels Sprouts with Lemon & Pistachios

This is for my friend, Julie, who was looking for something different to bring to the holiday table! I have adapted this recipe that I clipped from a Bon Appetit quite some time ago, but I have made it several times and love it! The recipe calls for you to separate every leaf off of every sprout, but if you do that, you will still be plucking while everyone else is eating dessert ;o) I find the food processor to be my friend in this recipe! Also, it may seem like there is a ton when you shred, but this does shrink, so for a crowd I might double the recipe and cook in 2 skillets.

3 Tbsp olive oil (recipe calls for grapeseed, if you have it)
1 Tbsp minced shallot
1-1/2 pounds brussels sprouts, washed and yucky parts trimmed, if any, and shredded with a medium blade of a food processor.
3/4 cup shelled unsalted natural pistachios (I have substituted sliced almonds and liked just as well)
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (or more)

Heat oil in large nonstick skilled over medium-high heat and add nuts, stirring for 30 or 40 seconds. When nuts begin to sizzle in the oil, add the shallots and stir a minute. Add brussels sprouts and turn heat up a little, stirring to get nuts and shallots out of harms way on the bottom of the skillet. Cover to steam for a few minutes. I like to not stir too much so part of them are caramelizing on the bottom and part are still crisp-tender and bright green. Remove cover and stir in lemon juice. Season to taste with salt & pepper. Transfer to serving bowl. This is best prepared right before dinner is served. If everything is prepped, it can be ready in 5 minutes. I hope you like it!!!

Under Construction - French Apple Tart

Have you ever tasted something so good that you were dying to figure out how to make it yourself? Well, I have 9 French cookbooks on their way from the library to complete this mission. Renee's Bakery is responsible for this obsession, thanks to my neighbors who started me on this quest. I have stocked the kitchen with Granny Smiths, almond paste, and a will to succeed. I will not stop until I have duplicated this heaven in a tart pan! And best of all, I will share the fruits of my labors, so to speak! Stay tuned!!!

2010 Baked Brie recipe

This is the dish that I take every year to a good friend's holiday party. It is different every year by a little, depending on what I have and what mood I am in. This year I made a balsamic onion jam to top the brie in the crust. This recipe requires buying and planning ahead. I like making the onion jam the day before. I also keep the brie in the deep freeze until time to assemble and bake so that it can bake long enough to brown the crust without totally melting and exploding the cheese. This recipe will make what you see here: 2 large wheels of brie. This fed quite a large crowd of 50+. Halve the recipe for a smaller party. If you do not have the time to peel the pearl onions, just use red onion sliced in rings or half rings. 1 medium onion should do it, but the pearl onions are prettier.

1/2 pound red pearl onions, skinned by blanching and peeling
3 T olive oil
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup orange marmalade
ground pepper and salt
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 T frozen OJ concentrate
2 6-inch rounds of good brie, frozen until ready to use.
2 Pillsbury All Ready pie crusts, room temperature (or homemade if you have time)
3/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted

Using a medium saucepan with a lid, saute onion in olive oil until very soft over low heat, about 30 minutes. Add balsamic vinegar, marmalade, OJ concentrate, and garlic. Simmer for another 30 to 45 minutes until thick and reduced. Add salt & pepper to taste. Cool to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 425. Remove brie from freezer and unwrap. Unwrap one of the crusts and roll out a little with a rolling pin. Place 1/4 cup of sliced almonds in center of crust, about as big around as your brie and place the unwrapped brie on the top. Pile about 1/2 to 2/3 cup of onion jam on top of the brie and start bringing up the crust around, pleating and pinching as you go, sealing with a drop of water before you pinch. You should have an opening at the top about 1-1/2 inches in diameter or so. Drop in another T of jam if you have a lot, and sprinkle the top with 2 Tbsp toasted almonds. I like to cut natural parchment paper into a circle to fit in a pie plate with overlap (see picture) and usually give it a decorative edge. this will contain any oozing jam when it bakes. Set this aside and assemble the 2nd one in the same manner. You should use all almonds. Bake in the hot oven for about 20 minutes until nicely browned. Allow to sit at room temperature for at least half an hour and up to 1-1/2 hours before eating, as the brie can still be cold in the middle.

Variations I have made:
___ Add 1/2 teaspoon curry powder to jam
___ Use other nuts
___ Add cranberries to the jam

I hope you like this!

5-o'clock Panic Potato Soup

(See previous post on comments on the development of this recipe.)

This recipe is intended for a pressure cooker. If you do not have one, you will need to make this "4-o'clock Panic Potato Soup" and allow at least an extra 30 to 40 minutes to make the pureed portion of the soup.

2 tablespoons butter
1/2 yellow or white onion, coarsely chopped
4 ribs celery, coarsely chopped
2-3 carrots, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon dried thyme
3 russet potatoes peeled and sliced
5 russet potatoes peeled and cubed in 1/2- to 3/4-inch cubes
3 cups chicken broth, divided
3 cups whole milk
1 cup low-fat sour cream or whole-milk yogurt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground mustard
Kosher salt to taste
Shredded sharp cheese of your choice for serving
crusty bread

You will need 2 pots (ideally 1 should be a pressure cooker)as you will boil the potato cubes separately in salted water. Start with water in a large pot and throw in a few large pinches of Kosher salt and bring to a boil. Add potato cubes and boil until just tender but not falling apart. Drain and set aside.

While the water is boiling for the potatoes, in your pressure cooker (or other pot), melt butter and add thyme. When sizzling and fragrant, add onion, celery, carrot, and sliced potatoes. Saute for 3 or 4 minutes to flavor the fat, making sure not to burn the onions. Add 1-1/2 cups of broth and pressure cook on high pressure for 3 or 4 minutes to make sure it is well softened. If not using a pressure cooker, cook covered until all vegetables are very soft. Puree this mixture with a stick blender, in a regular blender, or in a food processor and return to pot.

Add garlic powder and ground mustard to puree and stir well. Whisk in milk and add potatoes. If you like thick soup, add only a little chicken broth. If you like it thinner, add all the remaining (1-1/2 cups or more)chicken broth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Allow soup to simmer for at least 15 minutes and as long as an hour (cover if holding more than 15 minutes).

To serve, I ladle the bowl half full, add shredded cheddar cheese, and then cover and add some more cheese on top. I do not add cheese to the pot, as it tends to get grainy with reheating (plus, the child who will eat this soup does not like cheese).

Recipe To-Do List for the next time:
___Replace the 2nd half of broth with dark beer.
___Try grating good cheddar instead of bland pre-shredded cojack cheese.
___Try yukon gold potatoes to see if they are less textured than russet.

Enjoy!!

Sheesh, here it is almost Christmas...

Well, needless to say, I have, again, been eating (there is evidence) and not posting. Last night, however, I was commanded by my dearest to "remember how to make this!" See, I do this a lot. I make something in a panic (you know, 5-o'clock-oh-my-gosh-they-are-going-to-want-something-to-eat-AGAIN panic). I rummage through the fridge and the pantry and the freezer for something that does not need overnight soaking-thawing-growing. I thank God for my pressure cooker and pray for speedy melding of flavors and that at least 3 of the 4 of us will be willing to eat it (the 4th of 4 being required to make own PBJ).

Well, last night I made 5-o'clock panic potato soup (recipe posted separately), and it was a hit. We had in our freezer our friend's homemade kielbasa that he makes and smokes every Thanksgiving weekend, so protein-check. Hmmm, soup has carrots and celery and onions and, of course, potatoes, so veggies-check (surely some antioxidants will survive pressure cooking...?). Half a loaf of overly crusty ciabatta for dredging and dunking-check. So now I can relax until supper.

But then, my betrothed uttered between ciabatta dunks and mmmm-mmmm's "Why honey, I could eat this every week during the winter!" AACCKKKKKK!! That would mean that I have to remember how to make this!!! Okay, quick while I still have a few of those neurons intact, start writing to see if you can remember what you did!!! So, this is a lengthy way of making a disclaimer for the 5-o'clock panic potato soup...it may or may not be an exact recreation of the beloved soup I made last night. I could not find an all-night analysis lab to take my leftovers to confirm the soup DNA and print out an exact molecular recipe. But I do think the recipe that I have written here will be pretty darn close!! Enjoy!! Let me know what you think!

Has it been that long ?!?!

Well, sorry my fellow epicureans! I have been eating, but I have not been posting. Counting down 4 more peanut butter and jelly-or-fluff sandwiches to make, 3 more carpool pickups, 1 set of clean PE clothes, 6 more clean white shirts (well, CLEAN dingy grayish-white, that is), 2 teacher gifts, 2 teacher-aide gifts, and THEN I will have time to post a recipe or 2. I will try to come up with something worth the wait in the mean time!! Thanks for staying in earshot!!

Homemade Angel Food Cake

I got this from Alton Brown on the Food Network at least 8 years ago. It sounds difficult, but it is so easy and relatively inexpensive to make. I have been looking for recipes to use the yolks from the eggs, but this time, down the drain they went! No time for conserving when eggs are only 1.50 a dozen!

1-3/4 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup cake flour, sifted
12 egg whites (room temperature)(see note on separating eggs & cleanliness of equipment below)
1/3 cup warm water
1 teaspoon orange extract (I have never used this, I use almond extract which is great!)
1-1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 350. Whisk flour with half of the sugar and salt. Set aside. Place egg whites, water, extract and cream of tartar in bowl of stand mixer or large mixing bowl. Beat on medium until quite frothy, but not yet white. Turn mixer to high and allow to whip to soft peaks. Start adding in reserved sugar a spoonful at a time until all is incorporated and mixture is very full and fluffy. Remove bowl from mixer. Sprinkle a spoonful of flour mixture at a time over top of egg whites and FOLD in gently making sure there are no large pockets of dry ingredients yet not overmixing. This should be done by hand and not a mixer. Spoon batter into an angel food tube pan (not nonstick)and test for doneness after 35 minutes. When done, invert pan after cooling for 10 minutes upright and allow to cool for at least an hour. We have enjoyed this with lemon glaze and lemon curd filling, chocolate whipped cream, fruit or nothing at all! Enjoy!

NOTE: When breaking eggs, separate 1 egg at a time and check for any yolk or shell in a small bowl before adding to a larger bowl with all the whites. If there is even a tiny amount of fat from the egg yolk, the whites will not fluff fully. It is worth wasting 1 egg white to save the worth of all the rest! Same goes for any residual fat on the beaters or the mixing bowl. For that reason, do not use a plastic bowl and rewash utensils and bowl before beginning.

Great Pie Crust

This one is a winner!

2 cups all purpose flour, frozen
2/3 cup butter, cut into 1/2" dice, frozen
2 tblsp solid shortening, cut into 1/2" dice, frozen
1/2 tsp salt (I make mine slightly heaping)
1/4 cup ice water (make a large batch with ice cubes and pour the 1/4 cup just before using)
2 tbsp vodka, cold

Mix flour and salt in bowl. Add shortening and flour cubes a little at a time, stirring into flour to coat each piece. Using a pastry blender, cut into the fat cubes until mixture is crumbly. Mix water and vodka in another bowl and pour over a little at a time, pulling up dry mixture from the bottom with each little pour. Use a fork to mix just until there are no large areas of dry ingredients. Divide into 2 piles on waxed paper (I always make my top crust pile a little smaller than the bottom crust). Use the waxed paper to press the mixture into a disk, kneeding a few times if it is still crumbly. Refrigerate only for a few minutes to rest the dough while you prepare your rolling pin and surface. I use a stockinette cover for my rolling pin dusted with a little flour and roll on a pastry cloth also dusted with flour. I also always sprinkle a generous teaspoon of flour into my pie pan before placing the crust (I use flour from a shaker).

I'd like to hear if anyone tries this and what you think!

Western Spaghetti ;o)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBjLW5_dGAM

Don't try this one at home!! Strictly for the professionals! Enjoy!

Potato Pizza

This is surprisingly good, but wouldn't make a dinner by itself like a good ol' delivery-type-pizza-with-2-pounds-of-cheese! I usually make this when I make a few kinds of "gourmet" pizzas and a salad. This one takes some planning ahead, so we can't put this in the "quick dinner in a pinch" category.

1. Make the pizza dough found here on my blog (a few months ago) the day before (same day works too, just don't refrigerate).
2. Make the melted onions well ahead, like at least an hour or 2.

Melted Onions (make ample and refrigerate the rest for other uses)

Thinly slice 2 or 3 large sweet onions. Use a heavy skillet with tight fitting lid if you have one, or a dutch oven, anything with a larger surface area and tight lid. Heat it over med/hi heat for a few minutes with about 1/4 cup of olive oil. Sprinkle the onions with a tablespoon of sugar and liberally apply fresh ground pepper and salt. Add onions to the oil in the pan and toss around until they are well coated with oil. Keep heat a little high for a few minutes, then turn down to way low and cover. Continue cooking on low and stirring occasionally for an hour or so or until the onion slices are indistinguishable and you have a brown paste-like product (that smells heavenly!) Allow to cool to room temp. Can be made well in advance.

Potato Pizza

Preheat oven to 425. Spread out pizza dough to very thin and prebake the crust for 8 minutes on a heavy pizza pan. Remove from oven (I place mine directly on my granite counter top to stop the cooking quickly) On the prebaked crust, spread a thinnish layer of the melted onions as you would tomato sauce. Cover with thin slices or shreds of Jarlsberg or other nutty Swiss cheese. Cover the cheese with very, very thin slices of Yukon Gold (new) potatoes. Brush the potatoes with a little extra olive oil (or olive oil spray/mist) and sprinkle liberally with fresh thyme, cover with kosher salt and pepper. I also like to sprinkle a little freshly grated Parmesan over the whole thing. Sprinkle flour on a pizza peel and pick up the pizza with it. Place directly on the oven rack set in the top of the oven. Bake about 15 minutes or so. Check every 5 minutes, as ovens can be very different. You want the potatoes to be done and slightly browning, and you want the crust crisp but not burnt on the bottom.

White Chili with Chicken

This recipe is adapted from one in the Jan/Feb issue of Cooks Illustrated. (I hear the 5th grade parents liked it at the parents' party!)



3 # bone-in chicken breasts
salt & pepper
1 T vegetable oil
3 medium jalapeno chiles
3 medium poblano chiles
3 medium Anaheim chiles
2 medium onions
6 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
2 - 4 oz cans diced green chiles
3 cans cannellini beans (white kidney beans), drained and rinsed
4 cups chicken broth
3 Tbsp lime juice
1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro leaves
4 green onions sliced thin (optional, for serving)


Preheat oven to 400. Stem, seed and core all peppers and cut into 3 or 4 pieces each (5 or 6 if very large). Cut onions into large chunks. Place half of the peppers, minced garlic and onions in a food processor and pulse to fairly fine bits, not pureeing, but no remaining large chunks. Remove to a large pot with the oil and begin sauteeing. Pulse the remaining peppers, onions and garlic. Place half of that batch into the pot and reserve the other half. Reserve the food processor bowl as is. Saute pepper mixture until quite soft. Remove from heat and set aside.


Bake chicken breasts on a rimmed baking sheet until tender, about 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and cool to a temperature that you can comfortably handle. Shred meat and pour any juices from the pan into the pot.


Place 1 can of beans in the food processor bowl and add 2 cups of sauteed pepper mixture and 1/2 cup of chicken broth. Puree until smooth. Pour into pot. Add remaining beans, chicken broth, cumin, coriander and canned green chiles. Stir all and simmer for about 45 minutes. Add chicken, remaining chopped fresh chile mixture and simmer another 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in lime juice and chopped fresh cilantro. Garnish with green onions if desired.

Absolutely Fabulous Pot Roast (Really!)

Why am I making pot roast at 8:00 on a Wednesday morning? Because we have a kickball game at 6:00 and I can't seem to remember to plan ahead. So today will be different! We will have supper ready as soon as we get home from the game...just need to remember to make the mashed potatoes some time today!

This recipe is of my very own making. I have been trying different recipes and methods for years, and I sort of guessed at this technique and it was a winner. We like ours simple. We don't use wine or shallots or a melange of winter root vegetables. Meat. Fat. Flour. Beef stock. Garlic. Salt. Pretty simple, huh?

1 3# chuck roast, I like Angus, which is uniform thickness, well-marbled, room temperature
1 tsp. pureed garlic (jar is fine)
2 Tbsp flour
2 Tbsp fat of choice (we use anything from olive oil to bacon grease, your choice)
salt
2 cans hearty beef stock/broth

Preheat your oven to 475. In a heavy dutch oven or other stove-to-oven heavy pot with a tight-fitting lid heat the fat on high heat. Dab any moisture off the roast with a paper towel and lay in the hot fat (yes, completely naked!). Do not move it for several minutes as you want a nice brown crust. Turn and brown other side for several minutes. Remove from heat and spread the garlic over the top and give it a generous pinch of kosher salt (or less generous of table salt). Sprinkle the flour around the edges of the meat into the fat in the pan, stirring so it mixes with the fat. Place this, uncovered, into the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and turn the oven down to 325. Pour in the beef broth and cover. Bake for 1 hour. If you like potatoes and carrots baked with your roast, add them now and bake an additional hour. If you just want the beef and gravy, continue baking and check after 45 minutes for doneness. This will keep for a while in the dutch oven after coming out of the oven, or rewarm on the stovetop.

I remove the meat to a platter and scrape the bits off the bottom of the pot and give the gravy a good whisking over medium low heat. Then I pour it into a fat separator and let the fat rise to the top, pouring off the gravy from the bottom.

Enjoy!!

Grammy's Pecan Puffs

A friend asked about an eggless sugar cookie and, though this is not a sugar cookie, it came to mind. The kids love these!

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup ground pecans (not too fine)
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup cake flour
powdered sugar for coating

Mix butter, sugar and vanilla. Add flour, then pecans. Chill dough at least an hour. Half an hour before baking, preheat oven to 300. Roll dough into 3/4" or 1" balls. Bake at 300 for 40 minutes. While hot from the oven, roll in powdered sugar. Cool completely, then roll in powdered sugar again. Store at room temp, but also freezes well. (1 recipe never makes enough, if you know what I mean... :o)

Say your friend gives you 5 gallons of tomatillos...

What do you do? 1.) Soak in cold water to soften husks and remove. 2.) Grill them or place under a broiler until blackened in spots and softening. 3.) Whir in a food processor until mostly liquid but still a little chunky. 4.) Freeze in premeasured containers. (FYI, 5 gallons made 5 quarts of pureed roasted tomatillo.) Stay tuned for fun recipes to use this delicious concoction! I am thinking Green Pork Chili!!!

UPDATE: We made wonderful green salsa the other night with this. I partially thawed one of these containers, slid the whole block out and just cut the top off with a knife. I put the other half back in the freezer. I threw it into the Cuisinart with the top cut off a bunch of cilantro, 1 slightly heaping teaspoon of chipotle chili puree, juice of a lime, and 3 very small jalapenos that I blackened over the gas flame on the stove. A little salt & pepper and YUMMM! This would be great on grilled chicken or pork or, my fave, tortilla chips!

How about this wonderful tip...

I love fresh tomatoes, but when they look like mine do right now (every stinking one is green, green, green) I might just use grape tomatoes in a pinch. I find that they are usually better tasting than any other store-bought ones, even during tomato season. I saw this in either Bon Appetit or Saveur Magazine:

Use 2 lids such as those from quart-sized yogurt tubs. Place 1 with the top down on the table and load it up with as many grape tomatoes as you can put in a single layer. Place 2nd lid on top of them, top side up. Use a long, sharp knife and, holding the top lid, slice between the 2 lids. Just like that you have a load of halved grape tomatoes (grapes, olives, whatever...). I love this tip because I avoid these little guys when the recipe calls for them to be cut.

Enjoy!

Smoked Trout Dip

I was going to a party. No time to run to the store. What do I have on hand? Hmmm. Let's try this:

1-4 oz can of smoked trout in olive oil, slightly drained
1 hard boiled egg, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 Tbsp finely minced red onion
1 Tbsp finely minced chive
1/2 tsp yellow (not hot) curry powder
S & P to taste
1/3 cup light sour cream

Pulse trout, egg, onion and chive in food processor just a couple of times, to a consistency of coarse crumbles. Remove to a mixing bowl and stir in sour cream and curry powder. Add salt & pepper to taste. Garnish with a few long chive pieces and an extra sprinkle of curry powder on the top. Serve with something crunchy like pita chips or bagle chips. (I think this was a hit...!)

Great Grandma Savard's Chili Sauce

If you have tomatoes and peppers coming out your ears...try this!!!

30 tomatoes - peeled and quartered (boil down a bit and drain)
10 onions
7 red peppers (sweet)
3 hot red peppers (chop with red peppers and onions in food processor)
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups apple cider vinegar
4 tbsp salt

Spice Bag:
2 Tbsp mixed pickling spices
4 cinnamon sticks

Mix all ingredients into tomatoes. Cook slowly stirring occasionally until thick 2-1/2 to 3 hours. Place in sterilized jars, seal with sterilized jar llids and rims (must be hot).

This is delicious on ANYTHING! (Great Grandma Savard is Mike's Mom's Grandma)

Chocolate Chip Cookies with Chickpeas

This one is from Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook, Deceptively Delicious! Trust me, you might really enjoy these and never go back to Tollhouse! Hopefully your kids will like them...mine do!!

Nonstick cooking spray
1 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
3/4 cup butter or trans-fat-free margarine
2 large egg whites
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 15-oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 cups high quality semisweet chocolate chips
2 cups all-purpose flour (I like to substitute at least 1/4 to 1/3 of the flour with white whole wheat)
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat to 350. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray. Using a stand mixer, beat the sugar and fat of choice on medium speed until smooth. Beat in the egg whites and vanilla, then the chickpeas and chocolate chips. (Let the mixer mash the chickpeas until crushed but not smooth.) Add the flour, oats, baking soda and salt and mix until a thick dough forms.
Drop by tablespoonful onto baking sheet and press gently with a fork to flatten. Bake until the cookies are golden brown and set, 11 to 13 minutes. Do not overbake. Transfer to a rack to cool. Hope you like them!