The Charmed Kitchen

Cookie Pops

These are a fun and easy dessert to make with kids. Great when you don’t have the time to bake, either. I used white “chocolate” discs, but you can use real chocolate, too.

All you need are vanilla wafers, peanut butter or frosting to stick the cookies together, Popsicle sticks, some sort of chocolate you can melt and candies to decorate. After that it’s pretty easy.  Dip the end of a stick into the peanut butter. Press 2 cookies together on the end of the stick. Press firmly. Melt the chocolate- I used a glass bowl in the microwave,but be careful not to burn the chocolate. Dip the cookies into the melted chocolate until covered. Allow excess to drip off.  Place cookies on wax paper. Decorate your “pops” to look like flowers- I used M&M’s. Allow them to dry/cool then you can just peel them off the wax paper.

You can get M&M’s in so many colors, the “chocolate” discs, too, that color combinations are pretty limitless. You can make them for different holidays or in school colors. Nice to make in hot weather, too, since there is no baking. If there are nut allergies to consider use frosting to stick the cookies together.

Use peanut butter to hold the cookies together

Press together two cookies

Dip in melted chocolate. I used white “chocolate”.

Decorate with candies while chocolate is still soft.

Pear, Feta and Bacon Salad

I love pairing fruits with salty and smoky flavors. In this dish, some beautifully ripe pears were combined with feta cheese and a little bacon.  Adding toasted nuts and a simple dressing finished the salad off so well. This can make a nice lunch  or perhaps a first course at dinner time.

Pear, Feta and Bacon Salad

8- 10 cups mixed salad greens, washed, dried and torn into bite-sized pieces
3 ripe pears, cored and sliced thin
¾ c. crumbled feta cheese
8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
½ c. toasted walnuts, but other nuts can be used
5 T. cider vinegar
½ c. oil
Fresh chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
In large bowl place greens. Add pears, feta bacon and nuts. Combine remaining ingredients in a jar with a tight-fitting lid and shake well. Toss over greens and divide into serving dishes. Serves 6-8.

Cauliflower and Broccoli Salad

After a winter of soups and stews I find myself really wanting more salads these days. With the first full day of Spring here, it seemed a good time to share this recipe with you. I make broccoli salad pretty often, but sometimes like to switch it up a little by adding cauliflower. The result is  a salad that has a great mixed of flavors, colors  and textures. The addition of bacon also adds a wonderful smoky flavor. Certainly, feel free to omit the bacon for a vegetarian salad. With or without the bacon, this is a great salad for the warmer days ahead.

Cauliflower and Broccoli Salad

1 small head cauliflower, trimmed and broken into bite- sized pieces

2 broccoli crowns, cut into bite- sized pieces

1 sweet pepper, seeded and chopped

1 c. shredded cheese- I used a sharp cheddar

8- 10 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped

1/2 cup of mayo – or more according to your taste

salt and pepper to taste

Steam the cauliflower and broccoli until just tender/crisp. About 5 minutes in a microwave steamer, 6 minutes in a conventional steamer. Place in a bowl to cool down then combine with remaining ingredients and stir to combine well. Adjust seasonings, if needed. Serves 6-8.

Lovage- The “celery” herb

I love celery in so many foods. I don’t think you can make a decent stock without it. I especially like using  celery leaves. Problem is, often the celery I see in the store has few, if any, really nice leaves. The solution? I grow lovage. It is an easy to grow perennial that has leaves that taste just like celery. Lovage leaves can be used in any dish you would use celery leaves:  soups, stews, stocks and salads. The seeds can also be used as a substitute for celery seeds in recipes. Lovage grows to a height of a couple of feet, except when it is in bloom. When blooming, lovage sends up stems that can reach 6 feet! The stems of lovage are tough, almost woody. While they can’t be used chopped like celery, the stems are hollow and can be cut to size and used as straws in drinks like Bloody Marys or vegetable juices.  I’ve never seen lovage sold as a fresh herb. As far as I know, the only way you can enjoy this lovely plant is to grow it yourself. It thrives in sun, but will tolerate some shade. For a little effort you can have fresh “celery” leaves whenever you want. I also freeze plenty for use throughout the year.

Polish Mushroom Soup

This soup is a tradition in my family. When I was a kid my Busha would make it every Easter and my Mom made it for Christmas Eve. Now we have it the day before Thanksgiving. It is one of those dishes that brings back so many wonderful childhood memories. I love the rich, earthy flavor of the mushrooms and the slightly sweet/sour flavor of the broth. It is made with dried mushrooms. I can  remember watching my mom get out a big bowl and soaking the mushrooms to get them tender before starting the soup. I use dried shitake mushrooms, but often add fresh mushrooms as well. Sometimes I use other dried mushrooms. If made with vegetable stock it could be a great meatless meal, too.

Polish Mushroom Soup

4 qt. Chicken, beef or vegetable stock

5 c. dried mushrooms, about 4 0z. I use Shitake.*

Water for soaking

½ c. flour

1 pint sour cream

¼ c. balsamic vinegar

2 T. sugar

1 Lb. Kluski-style noodles, cooked and drained

Soak mushrooms in water for 1-2 hours.  Lift mushrooms carefully out to leave any sand in the bowl of water. Rinse and drain. Set aside.  Bring stock to a boil and add the mushrooms. Simmer, covered for about 1½ hours, or until mushrooms reach desired tenderness. Mushrooms will retain some “chewiness”.  In medium bowl whisk sour cream into flour gradually until smooth. Stir in vinegar and sugar until smooth.  Add a small amount of the hot soup to the sour cream mixture, whisking until smooth.  Continue adding hot soup to the sour cream mixture until sour cream mixture is warm. Add the warm mixture to the pot of soup and stir to combine. Return to simmer and simmer 1 minute, stirring continuously.   Place desired amount of kluski into bowls and ladle over the hot soup. Serves12.

Note:  You can add a variety of fresh mushrooms to the soup to make it even more special. You might use portabellas; crimini, button or whatever mushrooms are at the store that day. Add in addition to the dry mushrooms; don’t reduce the amount of shitakes.

You can use other cooked pasta. Mom said you might want to try spaetzels or even gnocchi. You might also need more than one pound of kluski, depending on how much pasta your family likes in their soup.

*The dried shitake mushrooms can be found at specialty grocery stores, some larger grocery stores and at Asian markets.

Cherry Pie Scones

Who doesn’t love cherry pie? I know I do. I got together for coffee with a couple of friends recently and I wanted to make something to have with our coffee. I used some cherry pie filling as the base for these scones. My pie filling was homemade.  Store bought cherry pie filling would work fine, too. They were just sweet enough and came out this beautiful pink color. They did remind me a little of cherry pie and summer. Nothing bad about that.

Cherry Pie Scones

3 c. flour

1/4 c. sugar

1 T. baking powder

1 t. salt

1/2 c. cold butter

1 1/3 c. cherry pie filling

2 eggs

2 t. vanilla

Glaze:

2 c. powdered sugar

2 T. vanilla

water

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or grease lightly. I have silicone baking mats so that is what I use. Set aside. In mixing bowl combine dry ingredients and cut in butter to resemble coarse crumbs. Combine pie filling with eggs and vanilla and stir to blend well. Add to dry ingredients and stir until mixed well. Mixture will be a stiff batter. Scoop 1/4 cup portions of batter onto the baking sheets- leaving a couple of inches between them.  You will need both baking sheets. I used a 2 oz. ice cream scoop and got 22 scones. Bake for 15-17 minutes or until golden brown on the bottom. I switched my baking sheets about halfway through the baking. Remove to a cooling rack and make the glaze.

Combine the powdered sugar and vanilla in a small bowl and add enough water so the glaze is about the thickness of maple syrup, probably a couple of tablespoons. Dip the tops of each of the warm scones in the glaze and return to the cooling rack.

Reuben Bread

If you are looking for a twist on a Reuben sandwich try baking all the traditional ingredients into a loaf of bread. By using quick rising yeast this bread can be ready to eat in right around an hour. It tastes amazing and looks pretty impressive, too. Easier than you think, it will look like you spent all day making it.

 Rueben Bread

3 ¼ c. flour, you can use substitute some rye flour, too

1 T. sugar

1 t. salt

1 package quick-rising yeast

1 c. hot water

1 T. oil

¼ c. thousand island dressing*

6-8 oz. thin sliced corned beef

4 oz. sliced Swiss cheese

1 c. sauerkraut, rinsed and squeezed dry

1 egg white, beaten

Caraway seeds

Set aside 1 cup of the flour. Combine remaining flour with the other dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Stir in water and oil and gradually stir in enough flour to make a soft dough. Turn onto lightly floured surface and knead until dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Roll dough into a rectangle about 16 x 8. Spread dressing down center middle of dough. Top with meat slices, cheese and sauerkraut. Cut one-inch wide strips of dough from filling to edge on both sides. It will sort of look like fringe. Alternating sides, fold strips up and over the filling at an angle. Carefully lift loaf onto greased baking sheet and place at an angle. Cover with a towel and place sheet on top of a roasting pan half-filled with simmering water for 15 minutes. Brush with egg white and top with seeds. Bake in a preheated 400-degree for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly before slicing. Serve warm and refrigerate leftovers.

* You can make your own Thousand Island Dressing by combining equal parts of ketchup, mayo and sweet pickle relish.

Note: The variations for this bread are almost endless. Some favorite combinations are ham and Swiss with mustard, roast beef and cheddar, chicken, broccoli and cheese, Spinach with ricotta or feta and onions, pizza, assorted fillings. You get the idea. Use your imagination and have fun. Just be careful not to overfill, or the bread will be hard to move, use fillings that aren’t too runny and always use cold fillings.

If you want to use regular yeast use warm, rather than hot water. Also, don’t let dough rise over boiling water. After kneading cover dough and let rise 45 minutes. Punch down and assemble as in original recipe. Cover with a towel and let rise until dough looks puffy, about 40 minutes. Bake as directed above. These breads can also be frozen.

Spread thousand island dressing along the center of the dough

Fold dough over fillings

Ready to bake

Accidental Cookies

This is the story of how I made really great cookies- by accident. It is also a lesson on why we should measure when we bake. I was asked recently to do a demonstration on freezing convenience foods. You know, ready made meals and the like. I had plenty of things to display but wanted to show how to freeze cookie dough. For the show I needed balls of raw cookie dough to put on a baking sheet- just to show how to freeze them for later. I wasn’t going to be baking or serving the cookies- I just needed the dough. When I was at home prepping I just started tossing cookie dough ingredients in a bowl and mixing them up. Great, I had my dough, rolled them into balls and was ready to go.

The show went great.  After I was done and had packed everything up and brought the dough balls home. On a whim I decided to bake them. Better than tossing them out. I hate wasting food. Besides, I had put in all the normal ingredients, how bad could they be?  To my surprise they were good- really good. If only I had measured!!!

Last night I decided to try and make them again. I knew I had used a stick of butter and an egg, so those were easy. I had used both brown and granulated sugar and some baking powder. The chocolate chips would be easy to figure out, too. The flour. Honestly, I just kept adding flour until it was a stiff dough. So this time I measured as I went. Rolled the dough into balls and chilled them. Then I baked them. They came out pretty good. Really good, actually, and as close as I will likely get to the cookies I made when just tossing everything together. I did measure this time so here is the recipe for my cookies.

Accidental Cookies

1 stick butter, softened

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/3 c. granulated sugar

1 egg

1 t. baking powder

1 1/4 c. flour

1 1/2  c. chocolate chips

In bowl cream together the butter and sugars. Stir in the egg and stir in baking powder. Add flour and once mixed in, stir in the chips. Roll into 1-inch balls- you should get about 24 -and  put in the fridge to chill for an hour or longer. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place cookie balls about an inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet and bake until light brown around the edges.  I’m going to say about 10 minutes. I will confess to getting a phone call when I was baking them- so 10 minutes is my best guess. Cool on rack a little before trying to eat them. Makes 2 dozen.

Irish Soda Bread Scones

If you are in the mood for the flavor of Irish Soda Bread- you can get the same wonderful experience in a scone. I made a batch of these this morning. Perfect with some recently made blueberry jam and a fresh cup of tea. Now if I only have some Devonshire cream. I used golden raisins, but you could use regular raisins, currants, or even leave them out.

  Irish Soda Bread Scones

2 c. flour

3 T. sugar

2 t. baking powder

1 t. baking soda

½ t. salt

1/3 c. butter

½ c. golden raisins

1 t. caraway seeds

2/3 c. buttermilk

1 egg

Milk

Extra sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and lightly grease a baking sheet. Combine dry ingredients in medium bowl and cut in butter to resemble coarse crumbs. Stir in raisins and caraway seeds. Beat together buttermilk and egg and add to flour mixture, stirring with fork until mixture just coming together. Turn onto floured surface and knead 5-6 strokes or until ball of dough holds together. Dust an 8-inch round cake with  flour. Press dough into cake pan. Invert pan over onto prepared baking sheet. I find if I do this quickly the dough comes out more easily. Remove cake pan. This will give you a perfect 8-inch circle of dough. With a sharp, floured knife cut dough into 8 wedges. Brush top with milk and sprinkle with extra sugar. Bake 14-16 minutes. Makes 8.

Blueberry Cheesecake Pie

I wanted to make a fruit pie, but with a twist. I had a container of homemade blueberry pie filling in the freezer. It wasn’t enough for a whole pie. A carton of ricotta cheese inspired me to combine two of my favorite desserts into one. I decided to use the ricotta to make a cheesecake like layer and then use the pie filling as a topper. It worked out great. I was lucky that my friend, Jared, had stopped over so I let him be my official taster. He gave it two enthusiastic thumbs up. With his endorsement I decided to share the recipe with all of you. I will definitely be making this one again soon. Maybe I’ll use cherry pie filling the next time.

Blueberry Cheesecake Pie

Pastry for 2 crust pie- recipe- The crust recipe I used is at the bottom of the page

Cheesecake filling:
1 (15 oz.) carton ricotta cheese, full fat preferred
½ c. sugar
2 eggs
Zest of half an orange
Combine cheese and sugar and mix until smooth. Stir in eggs and zest and set aside.

Blueberry filling:
1½c. blueberry pie filling- I used homemade
Roll out half of the crust and place in 8 or 9-inch pie pan. You can roll out the top crust ahead of time, or even cut into strips for a lattice top. Cover remaining crust to keep it from drying out. Spoon cheese mixture into prepared crust. Spoon the blueberry pie filling over the cheese mixture. Top with the second crust or place strips on in a lattice design. If using a whole crust cut in decorative slits for ventilation. Moisten then crimp edges and shape decoratively or use a fork to seal. Place pie in lower half of hot oven. Bake in a preheated 425-degree oven for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 and bake an additional 40-50 minutes or until crust is brown and juices begin to bubble through the slits. It edges start to brown too quickly, cover them with foil. Cool, then chill,  before serving.

Flaky Pie Crust

2 c. flour
1 t. salt
3/4 c. shortening, chilled – I used chilled coconut oil-  you can also use butter or lard
1 T. cider vinegar
4-5 T. cold water

Combine flour and salt and cut in shortening. Toss in vinegar and water 1 tablespoon at a time until dough holds together. Use a fork to toss the ingredients together and as soon as the mixture holds together stop adding water. Makes 2. Chill well before using.

Fresh from the oven. Cool, then chill, before serving.