Basil Butter Cookies
Basil Butter Cookies
I love basil so much I once owned a cat named Basil. I make pesto and use basil in almost every tomato dish I make.
This time of year, I am also freezing and drying basil, so I will have it year round.
You don’t always have to use basil in savory dishes. Its flavor actually compliments sweet dishes, too.
I used dried basil in these butter cookies and the flavor is wonderful. You could use fresh basil, too. Just increase the amount to 3 tablespoons of fresh basil. Chop the fresh basil finely, just before adding it to the dough.
To add a little extra pop of flavor, I finished the cookies with a lemon glaze.
Here is the recipe. I hope you like it.
Basil Butter Cookies with Lemon Glaze
1 c. butter
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
2 ¼ c. flour
1 T. dried basil
1 t. baking powder
¼ t. salt
Glaze
2 c. powdered sugar
2-3 T. lemon juice- or enough to make a thin glaze.
Beat sugar and butter together until fluffy and then beat in egg and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients and stir into butter mixture. Chill dough at least a couple of hours. Roll dough into ¾-1 inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet and bake in a preheated 375 –degree oven for 8-10 minutes. Cookies will flatten somewhat. Make glaze and dip the top of the cooled cookies in the glaze. Glaze will harden a little as the cookies set. Makes about 6 dozen cookies.
Dehydrating Vegetables
Dehydrated Vegetables
I have dehydrating on my mind this week. I was canning tomatoes a few days ago. I saved the tomato skins and dried them. This morning I ground them up into a powder in my spice mill. Now I have this wonderful ingredient to add to sauces, pasta, baked goods and more.
I preserve a lot of food by dehydrating it. Once you get over the initial investment in a dehydrator, the cost to dry food and to store dried food is pretty minimal. I just got a very nice dehydrator for $30. Not a big investment at all.
Dried fruits are probably the most common home dried foods. Apples, grapes, pineapple, strawberries and cherries are among my favorites. But the dried vegetables are so useful and versatile, I enjoy them as much as dried fruits. I think you will, too.
Drying Vegetables
Most vegetables should be dried at the lower range if you have an adjustable thermometer on your dehydrator-around 125-degrees. The big thing to know with vegetables is that some of them need to be blanched first. Blanching is just steaming the vegetables for a few minutes and draining, if needed, before drying. Blanching kills certain enzymes, prevents browning and assures a better end product.
Vegetables that need blanching include green beans, cabbage, carrots, potatoes, greens, winter squash, corn and beets; this is not a complete list, but a good start.
Vegetables that do not require blanching include onions, celery, mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes, spinach, zucchini, cucumbers and garlic and also herbs.
Broccoli and cauliflower do not dehydrate well.
Tomatoes are probably the best vegetable to dry for the home gardener and cook. They are so easy to make and so tasty. Just cut plum tomatoes in half and scoop out the seeds. Lightly spray the trays with non-stick spray and place the tomatoes cut side up for the first 12 hours. Turn them over after that until they are dried. I like them pretty crispy, but keep them in the freezer to keep their color and flavor longer. After a year they will turn black if stored at room temperature. Larger tomatoes can also be dried. Just cut them in slices and squeeze out the seeds. Cherry tomatoes are just cut in half and squeezed to get out the seeds. With small cherry tomatoes I just make a cut large enough to get out the seeds and leave them whole.
How do I use them?
Veggie chips-zucchini and cucumber slices can be used instead of chips in dip.
Powders- Tomatoes, celery, onion, pumpkin and garlic can all be powdered and used to flavor soups, stews sauces, cheeses, dips and more. I add powdered veggies to pasta dough. Mushroom powder is one of my favorite ingredients.
Reconstituted as fresh- potatoes in casseroles are wonderful.
Dips- Peppers, onion and celery all add great flavor.
To thicken sauces- Shredded zucchini, peppers, onions celery and tomatoes all work well this way.
Soups and Stews- most any dried vegetable is most often used this way. Easy to just let them simmer together until tender and all their flavors will enrich your stock
Chowders- Corn and potatoes are great in these dishes
Dried vegetables are best stored in a cool, dry place- I often freeze them for best shelf life.
Vegetables in photo: Starting left with bright green and going clockwise: Celery, potatoes, red peppers, mushrooms, carrots, cucumbers, onions and tomatoes. In the center- mixed sweet peppers.
Dilly Green Beans
Dilly Green Beans
In a pickle making class last night, we made dilly green beans. These are one of my favorite pickles. I like pretty much any type of pickle, and I love green beans, so no surprises there. They have a great, tart flavor.
If you have an abundance of green beans, you might consider making a batch of these to enjoy year round. Green beans are also at local farm markets now, and are at their peak.
These are great just eaten like other pickles, as a side. But they are also a fun addition to a Bloody Mary- or so I am told. I also like to serve them as an appetizer with cheeses, crackers and olives. Who am I kidding? I just eat them right out of the jar.
While the recipe calls for 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes per jar- feel free to add more, for a spicier version.
Dilly Green Beans
4 lbs. table‑perfect whole green beans
1 3/4 t. crushed dried hot red pepper
3 1/2 t. dried dill seed or seven fresh dill heads
7 cloves of fresh garlic, peeled
5 c. vinegar
5 c. water
1/2 c. less 1 T. pickling salt
Wash beans thoroughly. Remove stems and tips, and cut them as much as possible in uniform lengths to allow them to stand upright in canning jar, coming to the shoulder of the jar. have jars clean and very hot, and lids and sealers ready in scalding water. In each jar place one dill head or 1/2 t. dill seed, add one garlic clove, and 1/4 t. crushed hot red pepper. Pack beans upright in jars, leaving 1 inch of head room. Heat together the water, vinegar and salt. When the mixture boils, pour it over the beans, filling each jar to 1/2 inch from the top. Run a plastic knife down and around to remove trapped air. Adjust lids, and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes, start timing after the water in the canner returns to a boil. Remove jars. …Wait at least 2 weeks for these beans to develop their flavor. Yield: 7 pints
Source: Putting Food By
Warm Pasta and Tomato Salad
Warm Pasta and Tomato Salad
This salad has been a favorite of mine for a long time. I make it when fresh tomatoes are in season. You can serve it on its own, or as a side to grilled meats. It’s not like most salads, in that it is served warm.
The start of the salad is a mix of fresh tomatoes, mushrooms, oil, seasonings, vinegar. A lot of the typical ingredients you might find in a salad. These ingredients are mixed together and chilled, allowing enough time for the flavors to blend.
When you are ready to serve the salad, you toss the tomato mixture with fresh cooked, hot pasta. The result is a warm salad. Of course, you can serve leftovers cold, if you like.
Sometimes I top the salad with Parmesan cheese, too.
So here is the recipe. If you have some fresh tomatoes, you might want to try this salad. It really is tasty.
Warm Pasta and Tomato Salad
1 lb. Plum tomatoes, chopped
1 medium sweet onion, chopped
4 oz. Fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ c. fresh parsley, chopped
1 T. dried basil or 1/4 c. chopped fresh basil
1 T. capers, optional
1 t. dried oregano
½ c. olive oil
¼ c. red wine vinegar
3 T. balsamic vinegar
Dash of hot red pepper flakes
Salt to taste
1 lb. Uncooked pasta
Combine all ingredients, except pasta, and chill overnight. Cook pasta, drain and toss with tomato mixture. Mixture should be served right away. Serves 6.
Homemade Peach Ice Cream
Homemade Peach Ice Cream
Peaches are one of those fruits that make me think summer. They are in the local farm markets right now, all juicy and ripe.
We had a couple of peach trees in the backyard when I was growing up. I remember one year, my dad had to prop up the branches so they wouldn’t break under the weight of all those peaches.
Homemade ice cream is all about summer, too. Fruit-studded ice cream seems like the perfect dessert for a warm summer day.
I had some perfectly ripe peaches and decided to use a few of them to make ice cream.
When using peaches in ice cream, you don’t want to just cut up the fruit and drop it in. If you do that, the peaches will form ice crystals and become quite hard. sort of like peachy ice cubes. Nobody want that in their ice cream. Better to cook the peaches first, like I did for the peaches in this recipe.That way, when you put them in the ice cream, they get frozen, but in a softer way.
Homemade Peach Ice Cream
3-4 ripe peaches
2 c. half and half
1 c. sugar, or to taste
1 T. vanilla
1 T. orange zest
Peel and dice peaches. Cook in a small amount of water and a little sugar until tender. If you don’t precook the peaches they will be icy and hard in the ice cream. Cool and drain. In bowl combine half and half and sugar and stir until sugar is dissolved. Add remaining ingredients and stir well. Place in ice cream machine and process according to manufacturer’s directions. If you don’t have an ice cream maker place mixture in a shallow pan and freeze solid. Remove from freezer and allow to soften a little at room temperature then break up into chunks and place in a mixing bowl. Beat with a mixer until smooth and return to freezer. Makes 1 quart.
Spiced Blackberry Muffins
Spiced Blackberry Muffins
Sometimes, little things can just improve your day. For me, it was starting the day with a mug of raspberry/hibiscus tea and a warm blackberry muffin. I had some beautiful fresh blackberries, and decided to make muffins with some of them. So happy that I did.
I used a recipe I had made before, but decided to add cinnamon and nutmeg to the batter. I also dipped the tops of the warm muffins in melted butter and a spiced sugar mixture to finish them off. So good. So very, very good.
I used fresh blackberries, but frozen would work, too. Don’t thaw frozen berries before add ing them to the batter- and give the muffins a few extra minutes in the oven.
Spiced Blackberry Muffins
1 c. milk
1 egg
¼ c. oil
2 c. flour
1/3 c. sugar
1 T. Baking powder
¾ t. salt
½ t. each cinnamon and nutmeg
1 c. blackberries, I used fresh but frozen would work, too.
Topping:
1/2 c. sugar
1 t. each cinnamon and nutmeg
4 T. butter, melted
Beat together milk, egg and oil. Combine dry ingredients and add to milk mixture, stirring to just moisten flour. Fold in blackberries. Fill 12 paper lined muffin cups to 3/4 full. Bake in preheated 400-degree oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Combine sugar and spices in a small bowl. Place melted butter in another bowl. When muffins are removed from the oven carefully dip the top of a muffin in the melted butter and then in the spiced sugar. If muffins are too hot to hold wait a few minutes before dipping. Repeat with remaining muffins. Serve warm. Makes 12.
Spicy Pickled Beets
Spicy Pickled Beets
Beets are just one of those foods. People seem to love them, or hate them. I am a beet lover. I enjoy them in all sorts of dishes. The nice thing about making a batch of pickled beets is being able to open up a jar whenever you want.
This recipe is a pretty classic way to preserve beets. The brine is a sweet and sour mixture with pickling spice, salt and red pepper flakes for added flavor. You could play around with the seasonings a little. Maybe adding more heat.
Pickled beets are great served as a side dish with all sorts of foods. I like them served with cheeses, crackers and other pickled foods as an appetizer. If you don’t want to can them- you can store them in the fridge for up to a couple of months.
Spicy Pickled Beets
4 lbs. beets, smaller sizes preferred
3 c. thin sliced onions
2 c. sugar
2 T. Pickling spice
1 T. canning salt
2 t. red pepper flakes
2½ c. cider vinegar- 5% acidity
1½ c. water
Wash and trim beets, leaving a couple inches of stem attached. Cook in boiling water until tender. Cool beets down so you can handle them. Peel beets and cut into 1½- 2-inch diameter pieces, if beets are large. Leave whole if beets are small. Set aside. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer and simmer 5 more minutes. Add beets and cook a few minutes, until beets are warmed through. Ladle hot beets into clean pint jars, leaving ½ inch headspace. Ladle in hot liquid, leaving ½-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles, wipe off rim, screw on lid to finger-tip tightness. Repeat with remaining beets and liquid. You should fill about 5 pint jars. Process in a boiling water bath for 30 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave jars in water bath 5 minutes before removing to counter to cool. Yield: 5 pints.
Adapted from The Ball Blue Book
Kale Fried Rice
Kale Fried Rice
Among the planters I am growing this summer, are big pots of kale and other greens. I was watering my garden, when I decided I wanted some fresh greens for lunch.
The chard tempted me, for a moment, but the kale won, in the end. I made fried rice, adding the kale and some scrambled egg. It was simple, but very satisfying.
You could make it this way, or add other greens. That’s the thing about fried rice, it is so versatile. All sorts of veggies and proteins can be tossed into fried rice.
One important thing to keep in mind: You only want to use cold rice in fried rice. The rice is even better if it is a little dry. I will lay my rice out on a baking sheet to dry it out when cooling it down, if it is on the wet side. I often make fried rice when I have leftover rice in the fridge.
Kale Fried Rice
2 T. oil
1 egg, beaten
1 onion, sliced
4 c. chopped kale
3 c. cooked rice
1 c. diced cooked chicken– you could use shrimp, pork, etc., optional
Chopped green onions
Dash of hot sauce
Soy sauce
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil and cook the egg- making it a sort of flat pancake. Cool and cut into strips. Set aside. Heat remaining oil in pan and cook onion until tender. Add kale and cook until wilted and tender. Add rice and chicken or other protein, if adding, and cook until heated through. Add onions, season and serve. Serves 4.
Corned Beef On Rye Salad
Corned Beef on Rye Salad
I had some corned beef and was planning to make a sandwich with it for lunch. But it is warm today, and I was more in the mood for a salad. Since I also had some lovely salad greens, I decided to combine them in one dish.
The end result was very tasty.
I prepped my greens, then topped them with the corned beef and Swiss cheese. I made croutons out of the rye bread and dressed the salad with homemade thousand island dressing. A nice Russian dressing would have worked, too. Perhaps, even a simple oil and vinegar dressing. The thousand island dressing made it like a Reuben sandwich, minus the sauerkraut.
Corned Beef on Rye Salad
4 c. mixed salad greens, washed and dried off
3 oz. corned beef, cut in bite sized pieces
2 oz. cubed Swiss cheese
1 slice rye bread, toasted and cubed
2 T. Thousand island dressing- recipe follows
Place greens in a bowl. Top with the meat, cheese, rye bread and drizzle with the dressing. Serves 1.
Homemade Thousand Island Dressing
Combine equal amounts of mayo, ketchup and sweet pickle relish. Stir to combine. I like to add capers sometimes, too. Store unused portion in the fridge.
Martha Merrick’s Shortbread
Martha Merrick’s Shortbread
I have wonderful memories of the first time I had these cookies. I was with my friend, Martha and she had just made a batch of them. We were in her little apartment near Cleveland State University. Martha rarely baked, so they were even more of a surprise.
Shortbread cookies have always been a favorite of mine. Martha explained that her grandmother gave her the recipe. They were perfect shortbread cookies.
There is a dark side to the story, though. I published the recipe and gave Martha’s grandmother credit. Martha was named after her grandmother, so they were both named Martha Merrick. The problem was, that after the recipe was out there, Martha told me the actual recipe had come from a friend of her grandmother. There it was. I had shared the recipe but didn’t credit the person who originally made them.
I felt bad, but it was too late at that point. She had never mentioned this other woman before. I would give her credit now, but I don’t remember her name.
So there it is. The dirty secret I have carried for years. I have learned to forgive myself. And I still make the cookies. They really are wonderful.
Martha Merrick’s Shortbread
1 c. sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
2 c. butter
4 c. flour
Cream together sugar and butter. Stir in flour and press into 9×13-inch baking dish. Sprinkle with extra sugar and cut into squares. Bake in a 300 degree oven for an hour or until light brown around edges. Re-cut while warm. Makes 4 dozen.
Rest in peace, Martha. I will love you forever.
