Cherry Garcia Cookies - Thanks Sam

3  Cups Dried Cherries

7/8 Tsp Salt
1 ½ Tsp Baking Soda
5 Cups flour
2 cubes and 1 TBS of Butter
1 3/4 plus 1 TBS Cup sugar
1 3/4 plus 1 TBS Cup light brown sugar
4  eggs
1 TBS vanilla
1 ½ tsp almond extract
2 Cups white chocolate chips
1  Cup chocolate chips
1 3/4 Cups macadamia nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or silpat liners.

Place dried cherries in bowl and cover with boiling water.  Let sit 30 minutes to plump up.  Drain well, pat dry and coarsely chop.

Whisk together salt, baking soda, and flour in a small bowl.  Set aside

In a large bowl cream together butter, white, sugar, and brown sugar.  Beat in eggs, vanilla and almond extract.  Add flour mixture to butter mixture half at a time and mix until combined.  Fold in cherries, white chocolate chips, semi-sweet chocolate chips and macadamia nuts.  Refrigerate cookie dough 30 t0 45 minutes to firm up.

Drop dough by the tablespoon onto prepared baking sheets, placing cookies about 1 ½ to 2 inches apart.  Bake 12 to 14 minutes until lightly browned around the edges.  Cook 10 minutes on cookie sheets before removing to racks to cool completely store in a covered container.

Mango Avocado Salsa

 

Ingredients

• 1 avocado, halved, pitted, peeled, and diced medium

• 1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted, and diced medium

• 1 small red onion, diced small

• ¼ cup finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves

• 1 habanero chile (stem and seeds removed), minced

• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

• ½ teaspoon coarse salt

Directions

1. Combine ingredients:

   In a bowl, combine all ingredients. Stir well.

Storing Mango-Avocado Salsa

Salsa can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Before serving, give it a taste: You may want to add a bit more lime juice or salt.

Cadbury Choclate Chip Cookies

 Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups chopped Cadbury Mini Eggs
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1 cup toasted coconut
• Flaked sea salt, for sprinkling on cookies

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with a Silpat baking mat or parchment paper and set aside.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt. Set aside.
• Using a stand mixer, cream butter and sugars together for about 1 minute. Add in the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.
• Add the dry ingredients and mix on low until just combined.
• Stir in the chopped Cadbury Mini Eggs, chocolate chips, and toasted coconut.
• Form the cookie dough into balls, about 2 tablespoons of dough. Place on prepared baking sheet, about 2 inches apart.
• Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are slightly golden brown. Remove from oven and sprinkle with sea salt. Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and cool completely.

Notes

Tip- to chop the Cadbury eggs, place them in a Ziploc bag and smash with a rolling pin. Make sure you don’t smash them too much, you don’t want them completely crushed. 

 You can chill the cookie dough for 24 to 72 hours if you want to enhance the flavor of the cookies. The cookies will keep in an airtight container for 3-4 days. You can also freeze the cookie dough and baked cookies.Recipe and photo courtesy of Two Peas and Their Pod

Udon Noodles

 Ingredients

4 TBS butter

2 cloves garlic chopped

1-2 TSP chili oil crisp (I used 1)

1 tsp soy sauce

1/2 tsp sugar

1 tsp sesame seeds

16 oz Udon noodles

1 tsp rice vinegar

2 scallions sliced

Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil for udon.

Meanwhile, in a separate large pan over medium heat, melt the butter then add the garlic.  Cook the garlic in butter for about 1 minute until it just starts to sizzle, then add the chili oil, soy sauce, sugar and sesame seeds.  Cook for 1 more minute to combine all the flavors, then turn off the heat until the noodles are ready.

Boil the noodles until al dente according to package directions, then transfer them with a mesh skimmer into the pan with the sauce.

Turn the heat to medium and toss the noodles in the sauce for one more minute until evenly coated.  Stir in the rice vinegar at the end.

Serve the noodles with scallions and some extra sesame seeds sprinkled on top.` 

Raspberry Sauce

 Ingredients

4 oz frozen raspberries

2 TBS granulated sugar

1-2 tsp lemon juice 

Add raspberries, sugar and lemon juice to a small saucepan.  Cook over medium heat, stirring and mashing raspberries while they cook.  Once it begins to boil, boil for one minute.  Remove the sauce from heat.  Strain the seeds through a mesh strainer and set aside to thicken and cool.

Boursin Cheese Baked Pasta

Ingredients

• (2) 5.2 ounce pkgs. Boursin Cheese (Garlic and Herb)
  
• (2) pints Cherry or Grape Tomatoes
• 3 to 4 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 4 Garlic Cloves (minced)
• Salt and Pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
• 10 to 16 ounces Pasta *
• 1/2 cup Pasta Water (reserved from pasta)
• 1/4 cup Fresh Basil (about 6 leaves)
• 1 cup Fresh Baby Spinach, optional (chopped)
• 1/2 cup Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place the two rounds of Boursin cheese and tomatoes into a 9 x 13 baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil, a generous amount of salt and pepper, garlic, and red pepper flakes.
• Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes.
• While baking, heat water in a large pot to boiling. Generously salt the water. Add your favorite type of pasta and cook according to package instructions. Remove 1/2 cup of water and set aside to add to sauce. Drain the pasta.
• Once the tomatoes are done roasting, toss with cooked pasta and reserved 1/2 cup of pasta water. Sprinkle with fresh basil, spinach (if using), and parmesan cheese.

Tortellini Soup

 Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 medium carrots, sliced

2 medium zucchini, chopped

4 medium cloves garlic, minced, 1 heaping tablespoon

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 ½ teaspoons Italian seasoning

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, omit if sensitive to spice

8 cups (1.8L) chicken broth

1 (8 to 10oz) package tortellini

1 small bunch kale, thick stems removed and chopped

Splash cream or non-dairy milk, optional

Handful chopped fresh herbs like parsley or dill

Dash fish sauce, optional

Parmesan for serving, optional

Directions

1Heat the oil in a large pot, such as a Dutch oven, over medium heat. Toss in the onions and carrots, and then cook, occasionally stirring them, until they soften, about 5 minutes.

2Stir in the zucchini, garlic, tomato paste, Italian seasoning, and crushed red pepper flakes, and cook for one minute.

3Pour in the broth, bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer. Cook the soup at a low simmer until the vegetables are tender, 10 to 15 minutes.

4Stir in the tortellini and kale, and cook for 5 to 10 minutes. Turn the heat to low and stir in the milk/cream (this makes the broth a little creamy, but you can leave this out if you prefer plain broth).

5Taste the soup and season with additional salt as needed. For extra flavor, add a few dashes of fish sauce (optional). Serve with chopped fresh herbs and grated Parmesan cheese scattered on top (optional).