One of my favorite pasttimes is to cook and prepare dinners for friends. I love experimenting with different ingredients and different recipes. This page serves as a clearing house of some of my favorite links to food sites and some of my favorite recipes.

Sites

AllRecipes.com - a HUGE clearinghouse of recipes submitted by contributors with a very useful ratings system. (If you see something with 5 stars and 500 reviews, you know you've got a winner.)
Epicurious.com - another huge clearinghouse of recipes. Unlike allrecipes.com, Epicurious's recipes are from Gourmet, Bon Appetit, and other highend cooking magazines. It also has an extensive and very useful ratings system.
CooksIllustrated.com - One of the best sites to not only get great recipes but also learn how to cook. This site is indispensable.
Foodnetwork.com - This site speaks for itself.
Leite's Culinaria - Beautiful pictures and all of the recipes I've tried are delicious.
The Splendid Table - Another huge collection of recipes.
Apartment Therapy - Kitchen - Great, funky recipes and articles about food.
Chowhound - a HUGE message board great for finding a recipe, figuring out what to do with leftover ingredients, or scouting out a restaurant.

Recipes

Cooking, for me, is about experimentation and playing with food, so think of these recipes as recommendations - add your own favorite tastes and flavors to the recipes.

Soups

Tortilla Soup
(4 Servings)

Ingredients:
1 Medium onion
1 Large tomato
1 can of diced tomatoes
1-2 jalapenos
2-3 cloves of garlic
3 cubes of chicken/vegetable bullion
cilantro
Cheese (it's best to get a Mexican cheese, although Monterey Jack cheese works well also)
A ripe avocado
Lime
Tortilla chips
Olive oil

Directions:
Chop onion and tomato, jalapenoes and garlic. Begin to saute with olive oil. Add the diced tomatoes. Saute for about 10 minutes. Then add chicken bullion and water (approximately 4-5 cups, depending upon how thin you want the soup). Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and let simmer for 30 minutes to an hour. Add cilantro and let simmer for a bit longer. You may need to add some more water as you'll find that some has evaporated off. Chop cheese into small cubes, slice the avocado into small chunks, slice the limes. Get a bowl and add the cheese, avocado and tortilla chips (probably 5-6 chips...but it all depends on the size of the chips). Spoon the soup over the cheese/avocado/chips. Take one or two lime slices and squeeze the lime juice into the soup.

You can also make homemade tortilla chips really, really easily: heat oven to 425 degrees; take corn tortillas and slice them into chip sizes/shapes. Spray a cookie sheet with oil. Layer the tortillas onto the cookie sheet. Spray the top of the tortillas with more oil. Cook for about 7-10 minutes (careful! These burn really easily.) Once the chips are cooked (so they're light brown or just getting light brown) take them out and sprinkle salt onto the chips. Allow to cool and enjoy! (I like making my own chips for this soup because it's really easy to make small tortilla chip slices for the soup.)

Vegetarian Pozole
(4-6 servings)

This is one of my favorite soups. It has a pretty classic tomato/pepper base with hominy and cheese and lime. SO tasty. It also freezes well, so make a double batch and freeze half of it.

1 bag of dried hominy (or 2 cans of hominy)
1 onion
3 tomatoes
1 can of diced tomatoes
garlic (2-4 cloves, depending on taste)
1 poblano pepper
1-2 jalapeno peppers
2 bullion cubes (chicken or vegetable), or the equivalent of chicken/vegetable broth.
chile powder (NOTE: NOT chili powder. There's a difference. Failing to recognize the difference will result in a HORRIBLE soup.)
dried oregano (Mexican variety preferred, although whatever you have on hand will work)
cilantro
lime
monterey jack cheese (or some sort of Mexican melting cheese)

Soak the hominy (if dried) overnight in water. The next day, you can make the soup. Here's how: chop and saute the onion, tomatoes (both fresh and the canned), garlic, and peppers. Saute for about 10 minutes. Add water (probably about 6 cups) and bullion. Add the soaked hominy. Bring to a boil. Let simmer for about an hour, adding more water as needed. About halfway through (actually, you can add these anytime you want, I just add them toward the middle of the simmering process) add the chile powder (however much you want to taste, I usually add 2-3 T, but I like it spicy) and oregano (about 1t). Toward the end of the simmering process, chop the cilantro (about half a bunch) and add to the soup. The soup is done when everything is soft...the hominy will still be a bit chewy. Shred cheese and slice a lime into quarters. Spoon the soup into the bowl, add cheese (however much you want, to taste) and take a quarter of the lime and squeeze into the soup. Enjoy. (Mmmm...I have a craving for this soup after writing up the instructions. Perhaps I'll go see if I have some canned hominy and the needed chiles.)

Spicy black bean soup
(3-4 Servings)

Ingredients
1 medium onion
3-4 cloves of garlic
1 green bell pepper
2-3 jalapenos (or less if you don't like the taste of fire in your mouth, or more if you constantly complain about how wimpy Americans are with regard to spicy stuff)
3-4 stalks of celery
2 cans of black beans
chicken (or veggie) bullion cubes (3-4)
Olive oil
Various spices (which ever you like - perhaps basil, thyme, pepper (certainly))
Sour cream (if you'd like)

Instructions
Begin with the olive oil, onion (chopped), garlic (minced), bell pepper (chopped/deseeded, etc), and jalapenos (chopped, deseeded, etc). Saute for a bit (probably about 10 minutes). Then add about a cup of water (about enough to cover the mixture). Let this boil for a bit more. (The goal is to get as much flavor as possible out of the various ingredients.). Add bullion cubes and whatever spices you want (don't add salt - the bullion is plenty salty!) Gradually add more water. Chop and add celery. Boil for about 15-20 minutes. Add black beans. Add water if you want the soup to be more watery (but don't add too much!). Boil for about 30-40 minutes. Everything in the soup should be falling apart/disintegrating, etc. Then transfer about half of the mixture to a blender. Blend till everything is the same consistency. (CAREFUL! HOT! I've burnt myself many times in this step!) Add back to soup. Eat whenever you think it's sufficiently done. (And add some sour cream to cool down the spiciness, if you like!)

Red pepper bisque
(3-4 servings)

I got this recipe from a newspaper in England. It is an absolutely fantastic 'it's cold outside and I want a warm delicious soup' sort of soup.

Ingredients
3-4 Red bell peppers
1 medium onion
1 medium potato (to add substance)
Red pepper flakes (the spicy ones)
Chicken or veggie bullion (2-3 cubes)
Olive oil

Instructions:
Saute peppers, onion, and potato in olive oil until everything is quite soft (it usually takes about 30-40 minutes for it to be properly cooked...a good indication is that the potatoes are falling apart). *It's important that you cook everything enough - if you don't, then it won't blend properly and you'll end up with a chunky soup - not desirable for a bisque!* Transfer the entire substance to a blender. Add some (probably about a cup) chicken/veggie broth to the mixture (lest your blender's motor die). Blend until it is the same consistency. Transfer back to the pot. Taste and season accordingly (red pepper flakes, pepper, various Italian seasonings, etc). Also, add as much water and/or broth as you wish, to make the soup a desirable consistency. Enjoy! (Note: sour cream is a quite yummy topper for this also.)

Homemade chicken noodle soup
(3-4 servings)

One of my favorite soups. I generally don't cook it with actual chicken (although I do use chicken bullion). I won't put chicken in the recipe, but it's easy to add if you want it.

Ingredients
1 medium onion
3-4 cloves of garlic
3-4 stalks of celery (chopped)
3-4 carrots (peeled, naturally, and chopped)
4-5 chicken bullion cubes
various spices - basil, thyme, oregano, pepper (no salt - the bullion is salty enough!)
olive oil
Noodles
I egg
flour (about a cup?)

Instructions:
Saute onion and garlic for about 5-10 minutes. Add about a cup of water. Let the water boil for a bit (probably about 10 minutes). Add more water. Add spices and bullion. Continue to boil. Add more water. Add celery and carrots. Let boil until everything is soft (probably about 30-40 minutes). Then turn to making the noodles.

The noodles are easy. Break open the egg and whisk it. Then pour in the flour, bit by bit. Add enough until the mixture is able to be rolled out and cut up. (i.e. it can't be too wet, but it can't be crumbly) Roll out the mixture until it is rather thin (how thin it is is based on your preference. I prefer rather thick noodles.) Cut the noodles (again, according to your preference.)

Add the noodles to the soup (a few at a time). Cook for a bit longer (about 5-10 minutes). Enjoy the yummy goodness!

Potato Leek Soup

A nice comfort food. I don't make this soup very very often, but every other month or so there's a rainy day that's just calling out for some leek and potato goodness.

Ingredients
1 Leek (or 2 if you prefer the soup to be extra-leekful)
3-4 small potatoes (I prefer red potatoes)
3-4 cloves of garlic
1-2 stalks of celery
vegetable or chicken broth (about 2 cups)
milk (I use whatever milk I have on hand. The soup is best when you make it with 2% or fattier milk and I would advise against using skim milk)
olive oil
salt, pepper, and other spices as desired.
fresh chives (optional)

Instructions
Thoroughly wash the leek (they're quite dirty!) and cut up into moderately small pieces. Wash and chop the potatoes (peel or not peel the potatoes as you see fit. I tend to not peel the red potatoes if I use them...I peel all other types of potatoes before chopping). Chop up the garlic and the celery. Saute everything in olive oil (about 2 tablespoons?) for about 10-15 minutes. Add chicken broth and allow everything to boil for 30-45 minutes. Everything should be thoroughly softened and/or falling apart. Transfer the soup to the blender (you may need to do this twice, depending upon how much soup you have) and blend until smooth. Transfer back to the pot. Add milk until you reach your desired creaminess and/or consistency. Let simmer for a bit. (If you want to make the soup extra creamy, you can add some butter to the soup. You can also add heavy cream and/or half and half (in addition to the milk/as a substitution for some of the milk) to add to the creaminess.) Taste and adjust spices (typical Italian spices, basil, thyme, etc) as desired.

Spoon the soup into a bowl. Chop some fresh chives and add to the soup. Enjoy!

FYI: Homemade croutons also make a fantastic topper to this soup.

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Pastas

Zucchini and onion over pasta
(2 Servings)

Ingredients:
2 Zucchini
1 Medium onion (I generally use about half, as I don't really care for onions all that much)
Garlic (3-4 cloves)
Dried Italian herbs (or, rather, fresh basil, oregano, and thyme)
2 tbs Olive oil
Salt and Freshly Ground pepper
1/2 - 1 cup Milk/Half and Half mixture
Pasta (really any sort, although I prefer either bow tie or penne pasta)
Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Follow directions for cooking pasta. I'd suggest you cook the pasta while you're making/cooking the stir fry mixture (so that the pasta is still nice and hot when you add the mixture!)

Cut zucchini and onion into bite sized pieces. While cutting up the zucchini and onion, heat up olive oil in a wok (or, if not a wok, then a regular frying pan). (I prefer to have my heat on about medium.) Add zucchini and onion to the wok and toss (mix) together. As the zucchini and onion are cooking, begin to mince the garlic. Add salt to the stir fry mixture. (Be certain to continue tossing the mixture so that it won't burn!) After about 10 minutes of cooking add the garlic and whatever spices/pepper you wish (measurements to your taste). Stir fry with the garlic for yet another 5-10 minutes. Then add milk (or a milk and half-and-half mixture, if you want the sauce a bit richer). (At this point the pasta should be finished cooking and ready to drain.) Once the milk begins to bubble, turn the heat down and let it simmer for about 5 minutes.

Put the appropriate amount of pasta on the plates and add the mixture to the top of the pasta. (i.e. this isn't a sauce that should be tossed with the pasta - put it on top!) Add Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

'Rough' cilantro basil pesto with ravioli
(3-4 servings)

This is a crazy-easy recipe that is SOOO yummy! I'm calling it a 'rough' pesto because it's comprised of all the ingredients that go into a pesto, but without the food processor.

Ingredients
Basil (1 -2 cups, chopped)
Cilantro (1 cup, chopped)
4-5 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
Pepper
Pine nuts (pignioli nuts)
Other dried Italian herbs, if wanted
Ravioli

Directions
Chop basil, cilantro, etc. Brown the garlic in some olive oil (to 'tone-down' the flavor of the garlic a bit.) Cook the ravioli. When the ravioli is done, toss ravioli with the olive oil, garlic, basil, cilantro, pepper, pine nuts, and whatever other herbs that you want. Enjoy! (See, I told you it was easy! But it is SOOO yummy!)
Side Dishes

Parmesan Orzo

I found this recipe on AllRecipes and have fallen in love with it. It makes a great side dish for soups. It makes about 6-8 servings

2 C orzo (a rice-shaped pasta)
3 T butter
3 3/4 water (or chicken or vegetable broth, for a richer flavor)
1 1/2 parmesan cheese
1-2 T dried basil (or 1/2 -3/4 C fresh chopped basil)

Melt butter in a sauce pan and saute orzo until lightly brown. Add water/broth, cover and simmer until all of the liquid has been absorbed and the orzo is soft. Remove from heat, add cheese and basil. Stir until incorporated. Enjoy the cheesy goodness.

Potato Gnocchi with Browned Butter Sage Sauce
(4 servings?)

Gnocchi are little potato dumplings that when made properly, are quite light and tasty. My favorite way to prepare them is which a browned butter and sage sauce, although they're also very good with a basic tomato sauce with mozzarella or a gorgonzola sauce.

2 lbs of russet potatoes
2 eggs
1 - 1 1/2 cups of flour
Salt and pepper
1 stick of butter
1/8 C of sage, chopped
Parmesan cheese

Bake the potatoes. As soon as they're cool enough to handle, peel the potatoes and put them through a potato ricer (alternately, you can grate the potatoes. The important thing is to ensure that the potatoes don't have any lumps in them). Add the riced potatoes to a bowl and add the eggs and 1 cup of the flour. Mix. Add in more flour until the potato mixture isn't sticky. Turn out the mixture onto a well floured surface and knead for a couple of minutes. If the mixture is still sticky, add more flour. (But don't add too much. Just add a little by little.) Then take a tennis ball sized bit of the potato and roll it out into a long rope (roughly 1/2" thick). If the dough keeps falling apart, you need to add more flour. After you've rolled out a rope, get a knife and cut the rope into 1" (give or take) pieces. Now - very importantly - boil a bit of water and drop one of the pieces into the boiling water. If the gnocchi keeps its shape then there is enough flour in it and you can shape the rest of the gnocchi. Shape the gnocchi by making the ropes and cutting them. You can then make the ridges of the gnocchi by pushing it down the side of a fork. Go look at other places online to see how to do that. Boil the gnocchi a few at a time (no more than about 10-15) in a huge pot of salted boiling water. When the gnocchi float to the surface, they're done. BUTTER SAGE SAUCE: Heat up a frying pan and add the stick of butter. As it is foaming and bubbling, add the sage and a pinch of salt and pepper. Then, as the gnocchi get done, add them to the pan, occasionally stirring (you want the gnocchi to get browned, though, so don't stir too often). Once the gnocchi are done and browned to your liking, turn them out to a bowl or plate and add some shredded parmesan to taste. Enjoy!

Spinach Ricotta Ravioli

Ravioli are quite fun to make, although it is rather labor intensive (probably about four hours from start to finish). Once you have the basic idea of how to make ravioli, you can add all sorts of things as the filling. Very, very tasty.

Pasta dough (favorite recipe: 4 C flour, 6 eggs, a dash of salt and olive oil)
1 leek, white parts only. Diced small
2-3 cloves of garlic, diced fine
4-5 cups of baby spinach
Saute the leek and garlic with a pinch of salt until translucent (4-5 minutes). Add the spinach and allow to wilt down. Move the mixture to a food processor and pulse a couple of times to chop. Transfer to a bowl. In the bowl, add about 3/4 cup ricotta, 2-3 T of boursin, about 1/4 c parmesan cheese, 2-3 T of chopped parsley, a bit more salt and some pepper to the spinach mixtures and mix to combine. Taste and adjust things accordingly.

Roll out the pasta dough into strips (a pasta machine is helpful if not necessary for this). Spoon the filling out into it, paint around the filling with an egg wash and then add another strip of dough on top. Squeeze out all of the air from around the filling and then cut the ravioli as you like.

Basic Tomato Sauce

Chop one small onion and 2-3 cloves of garlic rather fine. Saute in a sauce pan in some olive oil until translucent (about 4-5 minutes). Add a huge can of crushed tomatoes (25 oz? I can’t recall.) to the onions and garlic. Then add 2 bay leaves, some oregano (I used a couple of pinches), some salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes (two healthy pinches) to the mixture. Let simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour. I like my sauce rather thin so I kept thinning out the sauce with water. After about an hour, take out the bay leaves and add some freshly chopped basil (probably 1/8 c). Let simmer for a couple more minutes and then process the sauce with an immersion blender until smooth. Thin with water as desired.

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Meat Dishes

Cochinita Pibil

5 T annatto seeds 1
2 t. cumin seeds
1 T black pepper
8 whole allspice beans
1/2 t. cloves
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup orange juice
2 T salt
8 cloves garlic
juice of 5 lemons (or about 10 T of lemon juice)
one splash (roughly 1/4 cup) of “the best tequila you can find.”
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
5 lb. pork butt/shoulder/roastable-part cut into two inch cubes.

Grind the annatto seeds, cumin, allspice, cloves, pepper into fine dust. 2

In a blender or food processor, liquefy OJ, vinegar, salt, garlic, and cayenne. Add the lemon juice and tequila. Place pork in large bowl or freezer bag, cover with the liquid and spice mixture and mix well, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.

Place the pork and spice mixture into a 9×11 pan, cover with tin foil and cook in the oven at 325 for about four hours.

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Side Dishes

Calabacitas

This is a nice side dish for Mexican meals. It can easily be a main dish with a nice side of black beans and some corn tortillas.

1 onion
3 cloves of garlic
4 zucchini
3 yellow squash
1 poblano pepper
1 C corn
salt to taste
1 C monterey jack cheese
~ 1/2 C milk/cream (or some combination thereof)
1 T olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Chop all vegetables (onion, garlic, and pepper into small bits; zucchini and squash into slices). Heat the oil. Add onion, zucchini, squash, pepper, and garlic. Saute until soft. Add corn. Transfer to a baking dish. Add milk/cream. Stir until combined. Bake for about 15 minutes. Add cheese and put back into oven for about 10-15 more minutes.

Pan Roasted Broccoli with a browned butter sauce

2 heads of broccoli with the florets cut into (roughly) 1 inch chunks and the stems peeled and cut on the bias
2 T oil
3 T water
1/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1 small shallot, chopped
2 medium cloves of garlic, chopped
1 T lemon juice (I just used the juice of 1/2 a lemon)
3 T butter
You’ll also need a nonstick pan that has a lid.

Cut broccoli into appropriate shapes. Combine the water, salt, and pepper, in a little bowl/ramekin.

In a nonstick pan, heat the oil (over medium heat) until it is almost smoking. Add the broccoli stems and cook, without moving, until the bottoms are browned, about 2 minutes. Add the broccoli florets and toss to mix. Cook the broccoli, without moving, until the bottoms are browned, about 2-3 more minutes. (It’s important not to shake/stir the broccoli because you want the bottoms to get browned.) Add the water mixture and then cover with a lid. Let it steam for 2-3 minutes, until the broccoli is a deep emerald green. Take off the lid and then cook for a minute or two more until all the water has evaporated. At this point the broccoli is cooked. Transfer the cooked broccoli to a bowl.

In the now empty pan, melt the butter. Continue cooking the butter until it begins to brown. Once it has browned a bit, take it off the heat and add the shallots and garlic. Cook in the butter (off the heat) until aromatic. At this point, add the lemon juice. Stir a bit. Add the broccoli back to the pan and toss to coat.

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Breakfast Dishes

Coffee Cake

For the coffee cake batter
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup butter
1 cup milk
1 egg

For the streusel
1/2 cup walnuts
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 teaspoons cold butter

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Begin by preparing the batter. Soften the butter, cream in the sugar and the powder and salt. Add the egg. Add the flower. Add the milk. Add more milk to get the proper consistency (smooth, easily pourable from the bowl).

Prepare the streusel. Combine all ingredients, break up the butter.

Lightly grease the pan. Add half of batter mixture. Add half of the streusel mixture. Add remaining batter mixture. Add final half of the streusel mixture. Cook for about half an hour or until the cake springs back.

Cranberry Bread

2 C flour
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1 t salt
1/4 C butter
1 C sugar
3/4 C orange juice
1 T grated orange rind
1 egg (well beaten)
1 C cranberries
1/2 C walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x5x3 loaf pan. Mix dry ingredients. In separate bowl, cream butter and sugar. Mix in orange juice and orange rind and egg. Pour into dry ingredients and mix. Stir in cranberries and walnuts. Pour into pan and bake for one hour.

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Desserts

Sugar Cookies

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla abstract
1 teaspoon almond abstract
2 1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Soften butter, cream in sugar. Add egg, vanilla and almond extract, soda and cream of tartar. Mix. Add flour. Mix and form into ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for about half an hour. Take out, divide in half. Roll out the batter. Cut into shapes. Bake for about 8-10 minutes or until cookies start getting brown around the edges.

Cranberry Cake in Rum Sauce

Cake
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup evaporated milk
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups flour
2 cups cranberries
1 cup walnuts

Mix together and fold in cranberries and nuts. Grease a 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Sauce
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
1 cup evaporated milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon rum flavoring (or 1/4 cup rum)

Boil for four minutes, stirring constantly. Serve warm over the cake. (NOTE: Bourbon is a delicious substitute for the rum)

Oatmeal Cookies

1 1/2 C flour
1/2 t baking soda
1 t salt
1/2 t cinnamon
1 egg
1 1/2 oatmeal
1 C brown sugar
1/2 C oil
1/2 C milk
1 t vanilla
1 C walnuts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix all ingredients together. Drop in rounded spoonfuls onto greased baking sheet. Bake for 15-18 minutes.

Cinnamon Ice Cream

Whoever knew that cinnamon ice cream is oh-so-delicious! This recipe requires an ice-cream maker...but that's an investment well worth making!

3/4 C sugar
1 1/2 C half and half
2 eggs, beaten
1 C heavy cream
1 t vanilla extract
2 t cinnamon

In saucepan, stir together sugar and half and half. Remove when it is about to simmer. Put eggs into a heat-resistant bowl and beat them. Whisk 1/2 of the mixture into the eggs. Pour the egg mixture into the pan. Stir in cream. Cook over medium heat until it coats the back of the spoon. Remove from the heat and whisk in vanilla and cinnamon. Cool the mixture. Freeze in an ice cream freezer according to the ice cream maker's instructions.

Cherry Almond Frozen Yogurt

This is a delicious, slightly sweet and slightly tart dessert. Make it with Greek style yogurt for the most creamy dessert, although you can make it with regular (full fat) yogurt if you want to cut down on the fat a bit.

3 C Greek style yogurt (the Greek style is important - it’s much thicker and creamier than regular yogurt)
3/4 c sugar
1 c coconut milk
1/2 t almond extract
1/4 t vanilla extract
1 c cherries, pitted and chopped
Mix all of these together and then put in the fridge for about an hour. Take out and freeze in an ice cream freezer according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Then put in the freezer and freeze for at least another couple of hours.

Honey Rosemary Cookies

1/2 C butter
1/3 C sugar
2/3 C honey
1-2 T fresh rosemary, chopped very finely (dried may work; I didn’t try it though)
1 egg
1/2 t vanilla extract
1/2 t baking soda
2 C flour

In a pan, melt the butter, sugar, and honey. Let cool. In a bowl, mix the milk, vanilla, soda and rosemary. Slowly add the honey mixture. Mix thoroughly. Add the flour bit by bit, mixing as you go. Drop by spoonfuls onto an oiled or parchment-papered baking sheet and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 12 minutes.

Coconut Macaroons

2 egg whites
2 T sugar
1/2 t vanilla extract
1/4 t almond extract (I used amaretto)
1 1/2 C sweetened coconut
1/2 C slivered almonds

Now for the hard part. Combine above ingredients. Mix. (Whew! Did you get all of that?!). Scoop out about tablespoon sized bits of the dough and put on a parchment paper lined pan. (Note: it’s very important to have parchment paper or buttered aluminum foil that lines the pan.) Cook in a 300 degree oven for about 20-30 minutes, until all golden brown on top. Take out of the oven, take the parchment paper and cookies and transfer to a wire rack to cool (don’t just pick up the cookies from the pan as they’re quite mushy still). Cool for about 20 minutes. Then if you want to dip them in chocolate (as any rational person would), just melt a bit of chocolate and begin dipping.

Easy Chocolate Mousse

1 C good quality bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 T sugar
3/4 C water
1/4 t instant espresso
3 egg whites
1/2 vanilla bean (I just added this because I had some lying around…you don’t need to add it if you don’t want to)
Put the chocolate chips into a blender. Boil the water with the espresso, sugar, and vanilla bean. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Take the vanilla bean out of the liquid, split it open and scrape the seeds into the blender with the chocolate. Add the water mixture. Cover tightly and blend for 5-10 seconds. (The boiling water should melt the chocolate without any problem.) Add the egg whites and then blend for one minute. Pour the mixture into three or four glasses/bowls/wine glasses/whatever similar sort of thing that suits your fancy. Cover with plastic wrap then stick in the fridge for about 2 hours or until set.

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Drinks

Horchata

Horchata is a delicious rice drink that is popular here in the desert southwest. It's a perfect accompaniment to spicy Mexican food. And it's tasty - did I mention that? I do warn you - it's rather complicated.

1 C long grain rice
2 C blanched almonds
7 C water
3/4 C sugar
1 vanilla bean
2" piece of cinnamon

Grind rice in a spice grinder. Combine ground rice, almonds, cinnamon, and seeds of vanilla bean with 3 1/2 cups of water. Let sit (covered) overnight. The next day, pour this all into a blender and puree until smooth. Add sugar and an additional 2 1/2 cups of water. Strain through a strainer and cheese cloth. Add additional water (about 2 cups, but really to taste)) to thin out the drink.

Margaritas

Mix one part lime juice, one part triple sec, and one part tequila. Serve over ice. (Salting the glass makes things even more tasty.)

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Other

Vegan Dip/Pizza Topping

I got this recipe from a friend in the department...she always brings it as a dip to parties and such but she told me today that it's actually meant to be a pizza topping. Needless to say, it's delicious! It's also somewhat complicated to make, but totally worth the effort.

Roux Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup garlic, minced
1 cup soy milk (I admit, I use regular milk)
1/4 cup white flour

Food Processor Ingredients

1 1/4 cups roasted cashews
3/8 cup nutritional yeast (you find this in the bins and whole foods stores, like Wild Oats, etc)
half a bunch of parsley
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tbs salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp onion powder
the juice of one lemon

Mashing Ingredients

1 tbs olive oil
1 pound of tofu (firm/extra firm)
chopped kalamata olives (optional, but it adds oh so much to the recipe)

Begin by making the roux. Saute the garlic in the oil, add the flour and whisk until smooth. Gradually add milk and whisk until smooth. Let simmer for about 5 minutes until it has thickened. Set aside for a moment.

Turn to the food processor ingredients. Add all of them in the food processor and blend until it gets crumbly. Everything should be in rather small crumbles. Add the roux mixture to the food processor and blend until it's well mixed.

In a bowl, break up the tofu into small bits. Add the mixture in the food processor to the bowl of tofu. Add the kalamata olives to the mixture. Mix. Refrigerate until chilled. Serve as a dip with crackers or use as a topping for pizza (or my friend recommends adding it to english muffins and sticking them in the toaster oven/regular oven until warm and crisp on top).

Humus

So easy and so very, very yummy.

Ingredients

1 clove garlic
1 can garbanzo beans
4 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons tahini
1 teaspoon salt
a dash of black pepper or cumin

Drain the garbanzo beans but save the liquid that they're in! Add all of the ingredients except the lemon juice to the food processor. Mix until crumbly. Add the lemon juice and a bit (maybe 1/8 to 1/4 cup) of the reserved liquid. Mix until the mixture becomes smooth. Add more of the reserved liquid until the Humus becomes the desired consistency (should be the consistency of a normal dip).

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