Chocolate Cacao Nib Cookies

If you need some cacao nibs to try this recipe, I have some you can use. I really love the texture they add!

Chocolate and Cacao Nib Cookies
2 oz good quality bittersweet chocolate
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1 1/2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/8 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp fleur de sel
4 tbsp cacao nibs

Preheat the oven to 350° F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Melt together 1 1/2 oz of the chocolate and the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and let cool for ten minutes. Meanwhile , combine the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder in another mixing bowl and set aside. Finely chop the remaining chocolate, and set aside.
Whisk the eggs into the cooled melted chocolate. Add in the brown sugar and mix again. Sift in the flour mixture, and stir with a wooden spoon until well combined. The batter will be thick. Fold in the chopped chocolate, cacao nibs and fleur de sel.
Scoop out rounded tablespoons of batter, shape them into balls with the tips of your fingers, and line them up on the cookie sheet, leaving a one-inch space between them. Sprinkle a few grains additional salt over the top of the cookies. Put the cookie sheet in the refrigerator for ten minutes (if the sheet and batter are cold, the cookies are less likely to spread). Put the cookie sheet into the oven to bake for eight to ten minutes, until the tops feel just dry to the touch.

Makes about 15 two-bite-size cookies.

This recipe is from: We Heart Food

Corn Casserole

My sister and I tried this Corn Casserole this week and really liked it. We made it as a side dish and instead of corn bread. It is a new favorite. We served it with BBQ, rolls, cole slaw and watermelon. Yum.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 (15 ounce) can creamed corn
• 1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn
• 1 (8.5 ounce) package corn bread mix

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a mixing bowl, stir together the sour cream, butter, creamed corn, corn nibblets and corn muffin mix.
3. Pour into a 1 quart casserole dish and bake for 40 minutes.

This recipe is from allrecipes.com

Deli-style pasta salad

This is the salad I made for Spencer's birthday; also I will be bringing it to the TO ward activity 5/30.
Pasta salad
12 oz pkg corkscrew pasta, cook and rinse
6 oz sliced, cubed provolone
6 oz sliced, cubed Genoa salami
1 sm zucchini, thinly sliced
1 sm red onion, thinly sliced rings
1/2 c. chopped green peper
1 3 oz can sliced olives
1/4 c. shredded parmesan
1/4 c. snipped parsley
Combine above in a large bowl.
Dressing
1/2 c. olive oil
1/4 c. white wine vinegar
1 1/2 t. dry mustard
1 t. dried oregano
1 t. dried basil
1 clove minced garlic.
Combine above; whisk well. Pour over salad, toss lightly. Cover and chill 4 hours or overnight.

US Senate Bean Soup

From the Joy of Cooking. 'This soup has been on the US Senate restaurant menu since 1901.'

Rinse & soak
1 1/4c small dried white beans, such as pea or navy

Drain and place in a soup pot along with:
7c cold water
1 small ham hock

Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until the beans are tender, about 1 1/4 hrs. Remove the ham hock. Discard the bone, skin, and fat; dice the meat. Return it to the pot along with:
1 large, diced onion
3 medium celery stalks with leaves, chopped
1 large potato, peeled and finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2t salt
1/2t ground black pepper

Simmer until the potatoes are quite soft, 20-30 min. Remove from the heat and mask with a potato masher until the soup is a bit creamy. Stir in:
2T chopped fresh parsley

Ladle into warmed bowls and serve! Makes about 6c.

Whole Wheat Bread Recipes?

I would really love to hear everyone's all-wheat bread recipes. Sidsie gave me her's which I will post here because she's too lazy to, but it will mess up all the Labels and sorting. Sorry.

Sidsie's Whole Wheat Bread
1/3 c oil
1/3 c honey or ½ c sugar
2 ¼ t salt
2 ¾ c steaming hot tap water
¼ c gluten flour
1 ¼ T instant yeast
7-8 c whole wheat flour

Mix together first four ingredients in mixer with a dough hook. Add ½ of flour and beat. Put in 1-2 more cups flour, gluten flour, and yeast. Beat again. With mixer on medium speed, add remaining flour just until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Knead 10 minutes on medium-high speed.

Pre-heat oven for 1 minute to Luke Warm and turn off. Spray or oil 2 pans. Pour dough out onto oiled counter, divide and shape into loaves and put into pans. Let loaves rise 35 minutes in warmed oven. Do not remove bread from oven; turn oven to 350 degrees and bake for 30 minutes. Tip out of pans and cool on cooling rack.

***I used 4c red wheat and 2c white wheat for my last batch, which turned out really well. The key is the 10 min of kneading. A lot, I know, but it makes loaves instead of bricks.

Salsa Lentils

I found this on the Publix website and have really enjoyed it. I've used it as a filler in Enchiladas and served it over tortilla chips as well.

Ingredients

1 (16-ounce) bag dried lentils
6 cups water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced
3 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 (24-ounce) jar thick and chunky salsa
1 (4 1/2-ounce) can chopped green chiles
1 (1 1/4-ounce) packet taco seasoning mix
1 (1-ounce) package fresh cilantro

Steps

1. Rinse and sort lentils. Place water and lentils in large saucepan; cover and bring to a boil on high heat. Reduce heat to medium; cook 10–12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender.
2. Preheat large sauté pan on medium-high 2–3 minutes. Place oil in pan; stir in onions and garlic. Cook 8–10 minutes, until onions and garlic begin to brown, stirring occasionally.
3. Drain lentils and return to saucepan. Stir onion mixture, salsa, green chiles and dry taco seasoning mix into lentils. Cover and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes.
4. Remove large stems from (rinsed) cilantro; coarsely chop, and then measure (1/3 cup). Stir into lentils; remove from heat and serve.