Three Meals A Day

This recipe comes from the culinary expertise of the Base Foods Officer at Canadian Forces Base Suffield … Master Warrant Officer John Robinson.  He whipped this up for my Commander’s Christmas Reception and was the hit of the party … at least on the food side of things.  It was not uncommon to see folks jealously guarding plates of the bruschetta.  This recipe makes a large batch so adjust according to size of party.

For the Bruschetta, mix together 4 large ripe tomatoes, diced small, 1/2 large red onion, diced small, 1/3 cup EVOO, 2 limes freshly squeezed with zest, 1 lemon freshly squeezed with zest, 1/3 cup fresh parsley chopped, 1/2 bunch green onions, thinly sliced, minced garlic to taste and then adjust juice and oil as desired.  Set aside.

With mushrooms of your choosing (like a chanterelle or oyster) sautee in EVOO until mushrooms soften and set aside.  With thinly sliced prosciutto ham (1/4″ by 1″) sautee until crisp.  Set aside.

Preheat oven to 400F.  On a flat bread of your choosing, brush lightly with EVOO and then sprinkle freshly grated Parmesan cheese over the bread.  Bake in oven for 5 minutes.  Remove and add bruschetta evenly over bread.  Then building like a pizza add: crumbled goat cheese, chopped mushrooms, ham, a mixture of red/orange/yellow peppers and black olives diced very small.  Place  bread back in oven and cook a further 5-10 minutes until goat cheese starts to melt.

Remove from oven.  Cut into small squares or bite size chunks and then drizzle with a balsamic glaze vinegar (which can be bought at most stores).

Serve and enjoy!

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By Kelly Claggett,

If you are a chocolate lover look no further than these cookies. They will make your knees buckle. The texture is dense with rich cocoa flavors. The nutella does a wonderful job of blending all the taste in each bite. This recipe is from the Washington Post with the original source of recipe being Huntsberger and Willis, of Whisked! in Washington D.C.

I usually don’t bake real things unless it comes in a tube of already made dough. If prep time takes more than 5 min I won’t be making it. I have realized that baking requires precision and patience, both are definitely not my speciality. But this recipe actually wasn’t hard at all and surprisingly came out amazing. The reason I know it was actually amazing is because our family’s biggest critic (my step-mom Elaine) said she loved it… and meant it. She’s not a very good liar so I know it was actually good. We will definitely be keeping this recipe and most likely be making another batch or two before Christmas. Yum!

We are giving this cookie trial 5 snowflakes. Excellent!

Makes 30 to 35 cookies

Ingredients:
2 cups (10 ounces) flour
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon (3.2 ounces) natural unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
2 teaspoons kosher salt
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at a very soft room temperature (see headnote)
1 1/3 cups (9.3 ounces) sugar, plus 1 cup for finishing the cookies
2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone liner.

Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder and salt in a small bowl.

Combine the butter and 1 1/3 cups of sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer or hand-held electric mixer. Beat for about 2 minutes on low speed, until fluffy, then add the egg yolks, cream and vanilla extract; beat on low speed until combined. Add the flour mixture and beat until just incorporated.

Place the remaining cup of sugar in a shallow bowl.

Scoop 30 to 35 heaping tablespoons of dough onto the baking sheets. Shape each mound of dough into a ball, then roll it in the remaining sugar to coat evenly. Space the balls 2 inches apart on the baking sheets, then use your thumb to make an indentation in the top of each cookie, gently flattening the cookies a bit as you work.

Bake one sheet at a time for 10 minutes or until the edges are just set; the tops of the cookies will be soft. (If the indentations have lost definition, press the centers again immediately after you remove the cookies from the oven.) Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack to cool. Pipe or spoon the Nutella into the center of each cookie while the cookies are still slightly warm.

Serve or store once the Nutella centers have slightly set; if in layers use wax paper. These do not freeze well.

MAKE AHEAD: Unbaked, scooped cookies stored in an airtight container will keep for up to 1 week in the refrigerator or 1 month in the freezer. Baked and filled cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

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To follow on from Stuart’s idea from last year, Megan and I will be helping out (well really Megan as she bakes and I eat!) with the 12 Days of Christmas Cookies.  We found this recipe that we thought we would share … taste just like ginger snaps (with a triple serving of ginger) but are chewy in the middle.

Preheat the oven to 350 with racks in lower and upper third of the oven. Line 2 sheets with parchment paper.

Whisk 2 1/4 cups of flour with 2 1/2 tsp of ground ginger, 1 1/2 tsp of baking soda, 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon, 1/4 tsp of fresh ground nutmeg, 1/2 tsp of kosher salt, and 1/4 tsp of fresh ground black pepper.

In an electric mixer, beat on med-high  3/4 cup of packed brown sugar, 1/2 cup vegetable shortening, and 1/2 cup ( one stick) of butter in a large bowl, scraping down the sides of the bowl half way through the beating, until light and fluffy (about 3 mins).  Reduce the speed to low and add 1 large egg, 1/2 cup blackstrap molasses, 2tsp grated ginger, 1 tsp vanilla and beat until blended.  Add1/2 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger .

In a large bowl add 1 cup sugar in the raw.  Using a teaspoon measure, scoop out dough and then using another teaspoon scoop out the measure into the bowl gently rolling the dough into a ball and well coated.  Transfer to cookie sheet on parchment paper spacing balls 1 1/2″ apart.

Bake in oven rotating sheets halfway through from top to bottom (or reverse) until edges are firm and centers appear cracked; 10-12 mins.  Transfer to cooling rack.

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