I was lucky enough to get a lamb shoulder from my friend, Kaey Bray, who raises extraordinary lambs. I knew it needed moist heat so I decided to make a stew. I started the lamb in the crock pot with onions, garlic, carrots and bay leaves. I also added a quart of chicken stock and let it go all night on low. Since we were having the dish for lunch I wanted to be sure the meat was falling apart tender. Late morning I added whole fresh mushrooms, diced sweet potatoes, Tuscan seasoning , red pepper flakes, nutritional yeast and some home made vegetable soup base. Before serving  I mixed some water and flour and added it to thicken the liquid. I let it simmer about 30 more minutes and served it over hot cooked pasta. I did not cut the meat up- trust me it was moist and fork tender. Jonathan was so happy.  Well, we both were.

Lamb Stew

1 lamb shoulder roast, about 2-3 lbs.

3 onions, peeled and chopped

1 lb. carrots, peeled and chopped

20 cloves peeled garlic- not a misprint- Jonathan loves garlic

1 qt. chicken stock

1 lb. fresh mushrooms, trimmed and washed

1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed

1 T. soup base – or salt and pepper to taste

1 T. Tuscan seasoning

1 T. Nutritional yeast

1/2 t. crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 c. flour

1/2 c. water

Place lamb in crock pot with carrots, onions, garlic and stock and cook on high for 2 hours. Turn down to low and continue cooking for 4- 8 hours longer. Add mushrooms, sweet potato and seasoning and cook on high 1 hour longer. Combine flour and water in jar with tight-fitting lid and shake to combine. Pour into lamb mixture stirring until mixed. Cook 30 minutes longer and serve over hot cooked pasta.

 

Since I have had a lot of response to the cookie pictures I thought I had better post the recipe. Just a simple sugar cookie with royal icing. Always tasty and like any classic, always in style.

 

 

 Sugar Cookies

1 c. butter

1 c. sugar

1 egg

1 t. vanilla

3 c. flour

2 t. baking powder

3 T. milk

Extra sugar for sprinkling, if desired

Beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients and add to butter mixture. Beat in milk. Heat oven to 375-degrees. Roll dough on lightly floured surface to about 1/3- inch thickness. Cut out with lightly floured cutters and sprinkle with sugar or colored sugar if you like and if you are not going to frost them. Bake on an un-greased baking sheet for 10-12 minutes. Cool on baking sheet 3 minutes before placing on wire rack to cool completely. Frost when cooled. Makes about 4 dozen.

Decorating your cookies:

You can use buttercream frosting  but I prefer to use royal icing. Because royal icing contains egg whites it gets hard. Cookies have a smooth appearance and can be stacked. When making royal icing ALWAYS USE PASTEURIZED EGG WHITES OR POWDERED EGGS WHITES TO PREVENT SAMONELLA.

You can also use colored sugar and sprinkles and mini chocolate chips for eyes.

 

Royal Icing

1 lb. powdered sugar

½ t. cream of tartar

5¼ t. egg white powder, available in some grocery stores and in baking supply stores

6 T. water

½ t. vanilla, optional

Assorted food colorings, I used a little pink in the “piggies”.

In large mixing bowl combine dry ingredients and mix well. Add water and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy, about 10 minutes. Divide into small bowls and tint each batch as needed. Keep bowl covered with a damp towel while waiting to use as royal icing dries out quickly.

Its sometimes a challenge to use leftovers. I often use them in soups and salads. Today I found myself with some leftover cooked chicken and wanted to do something fun with it. I decided to make a big salad but rather than just add the chicken I first heated up the chicken in some home made barbecue sauce. It made the whole salad more fun and the warm chicken was a nice counterpoint to the cold salad veggies. Super easy and very tasty.

Barbecue Chicken Salad

3-4 cups lettuce, rinsed and torn into bite-sized pieces

1/2 c. shredded cabbage

1/2 c. chopped sweet pepper

salt and pepper to taste

1-2 T.olive oil

1-2 T. cider vinegar

1 c. cooked chicken, cubed

1/2 c. barbecue sauce

1/4 c. cashews

Arrange veggies in bowl on on a plate. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle with the oil and vinegar. Place chicken on small skillet and add the barbecue sauce. Heat until bubbly, stirring often. Spoon over the vegetable mixture and sprinkle with cashews.

 

Having friends over for dinner. Doing a Southern-influenced picnic. I thought this would be the perfect dessert. Soft, sweet and moist it is the right finish for our dinner. If you end up with extra sweet potatoes it is also a great way to use them up. Just 1/2 cup of mashed sweet potatoes is used in the recipe.

Sweet Potato Pound Cake

1 1/2 c. cake flour*

1/2 t. each baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg

1/2 c. unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 c. sour cream, room temperature

1 1/3 c. sugar

3 eggs, room temperature

1/2 c. mashed sweet potato

1 t. vanilla

 

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Lightly oil an 8×4-inch loaf pan.** Mix flour with next 4 ingredients and set aside. In large mixing bowl beat together butter and sour cream. Beat in sugar and then beat in eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in mashed sweet potato and vanilla. Stir in dry ingredients and pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until tester comes out clean, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Cool in pan 30 minutes before loosening cake sides from pan and removing. After cake has cooled wrap in foil and store at room temperature. Serves 8.

*Rather than keeping cake flour on hand, you can add lib in a pinch. There are 2 ways to substitute.

For each cup of cake flour you can measure 1 cup of regular all purpose flour and then just remove 2 table spoonfuls of the flour.

Some recipes also call to remove the 2 table spoons of regular flour and replace them with 2 tablespoon of cornstarch. I’ve tried both methods in baking and have had fine results either way. It is important that you measure the flour correctly to begin with. Flour should always be spooned into the measuring cup and then leveled off with a knife.

For a larger amount:

7 cups flour

1 c. cornstarch

Sift together and store until ready to use.

** I used a 9×5-inch loaf pan. The bread does not get at high but it still works fine at this size and the cooking time was reduced by 10 minutes.

 

If you have hard-cooked eggs and want a tasty way to serve them you might like Goldenrod. Its a recipe my Grandmother and Mother used to make every year after Easter when we had lots of hard cooked eggs around. It’s a simple dish and very tasty. Of course you can make Goldenrod any time you have hard-cooked eggs.

Goldenrod

4-6 hard cooked eggs

2 T. flour

2 T. butter or margarine

1-1 1/2 c. milk

salt and pepper to taste

2-4 slices bread, toasted

 

Peel eggs and separate whites from yolks. Chop egg whites and set aside. In saucepan cook flour and butter together until smooth. Stir in milk and cook until thickened and bubbly. Be careful not to burn the sauce. Season to taste and add reserved egg whites, heating through. Arrange toast on serving dishes and cover with the sauce. Place reserves egg yolks in a fine sieve and press through over sauce, dusting as evenly as possible. Serves 2-4.

 

If you are looking for a quick appetizer try this easy recipe. Serve with crackers, veggies or pita chips.

Carrot Spread

1 (8 oz.) cream cheese
3 med. size carrots, grated
3 Green onions, sliced
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce, optional
1/4 c. mayonnaise
Coarse black pepper & salt to taste

Soften cream cheese. Add to carrots, green onions, Worcestershire sauce, black pepper, salt and mayonnaise. Chill until ready to serve.

When I was growing up one of my best friends was Debbi Dieglio. We shared many fun times. Every Easter Debbi’s Mom, Rose, would make these wonderful biscotti with a colored egg baked in the middle and drizzled with a powdered sugar glaze. These are not the hard biscotti you might be more familiar with but something more correctly called viscotta. Think of them as a big cookie. Over the years I have become “The Easter Judi” making dozens of them and giving them to friends and family. Wanted to share the recipe with you today. I really think you’ll love them. Because they contain eggs- keep refrigerated.

Easter Egg Biscotti

1 c. shortening or butter- I use butter

1 ½ c. sugar

4 eggs

5 t. baking powder

1 t. salt

2 t. vanilla

1 c. milk

6 c. flour

Hard cooked eggs, plain or dyed

Powdered sugar glaze

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together butter or shortening and sugar. Beat in eggs. Add next 4 ingredients and blend until smooth. Stir in flour 2 cups at a time. Dough should be pliable. If dough is too sticky add a little more flour. Take a piece of dough about the size of a large egg and place on a greased baking sheet. Indent middle slightly and then place an egg in the center, pressing down slightly. It should look like a nest. Continue with remaining dough allowing about 2-3 inches in between as they grow. You can fit 6-8 on a large baking sheet. Bake 20 –25 minutes or until browned on the bottom. Cool on wire rack before drizzling with frosting. Makes 24-30.

Sugar glaze

2 c. powdered sugar

2-3 T. milk or orange juice

1 t. vanilla

Food coloring, if desired

Mix together until smooth and of drizzling consistency.

If you are looking for a new way to cook sweet potatoes try adding them to your biscuit dough. As they bake they add moisture and tenderness. These are a fast and tasty addition to your dinner. Perhaps even for the holiday table. The biscuits are tender and are best served warm with sweet butter.

Herbed Sweet Potato Biscuits

2 1/4 c. flour

1 T. baking powder

1/2 t. grated lemon peel

1/4 t. each baking soda, dried basil and dried thyme

1 egg, beaten

1 1/2 c. shredded sweet potato, about 1 large

1/2 c. fine chopped green onions

1/2 c. sour cream

2T. butter, melted or olive oil

 

Stir together dry ingredients in large bowl and set aside. Combine remaining ingredients and add to flour mixture mixing until just blended. Turn onto lightly floured surface and knead a few times until dough just stays together. Dough will look too dry- but it will come together after you knead it. Press into an 8-inch square and cut into four squares.* Cross cut each square into four triangles. Place on greased baking sheet and bake in a preheated 425 degree oven for 20 minutes. Makes 16.

* I press the dough into a lightly floured 8×8-inch baking pan and then flip it out onto the work surface. That way you’ll get nice, even edges.

Cut dough into 16 triangles