Happy New Year!

I guess I haven't posted any recipes for a while, so here's a few I've made over the last few weeks. All are favorites, some very old, some fairly new.

I've made this one two Christmases in a row, and it seems to go over very well. This year I cut out a paper snowflake and laid it on top of the cooled tart and then dusted powdered sugar over it. I carefully removed the snowflake. It was a very festive look.

Fig Tart with Pistachio Crust

from Food & Wine November 2003

This tart is most delicious one day after it is baked.

Filling:

1 pound dried Black Mission figs, stemmed
1 1/2 cups water
3/4 cup sugar
1 tb cinnamon
1tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
juice and zest of one lemon
salt

Crust:

2 cups unsalted roasted pistachios (10 ounces)
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup plus 2 tb sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
2 sticks plus 2 tb (9 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1. Make the filling: In a medium saucepan, combine figs with the water, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, lemon juice and zest and a pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Simmer the figs over moderately low heat until tender and the liquid is thick and syrupy, about 40 minutes. Transfer mixture to a food processor and puree. Let cool. (I used a potato masher and pureed the stuff that way).

2. Meanwhile, make the crust: In a food processor, pulse the pistachios until finely ground. Transfer the nuts to a large bowl and add the flour, sugar, baking powder and lemon zest. Add the butter and stir with a wooden spoon until combined; it may be necessary to knead the dough with your hands (I used a pastry blender). Add the whole egg, egg yolks and vanilla, and stir or knead until evenly combined. Break off one third of the dough and flatten it into a disk. Pat the remaining dough into another disk. Wrap both pieces in plastic and refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes.

3. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray an 11-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom with vegetable cooking spray. Press the larger disk of dough onto the bottom and up the sides of the tart pan to form an even 1/4 to 1/3 inch thick crust. Trim off any excess. Spread the fig filling over the crust. Roll out the smaller disk between two sheets of wax paper to a 12-inch round about 1/4 inch thick. Remove one sheet of wax paper and invert top crust over filling. Press the edges together to seal, and trim off any excess. Chill the tart for 15 minutes.

4. Bake the tart in the center of the oven for 50 minutes or until golden, covering the top with foil if the edges become too brown. Let the tart cool for 30 minutes, then carefully remove the fluted ring. Let the tart cool completely before serving.

Notes:

I used salted pistachios. It seemed much better that way.

Use two sheets of wax paper, crossed, for both top and bottom when rolling out the top crust. You'll need all the room you can get. And the crust is soft and sticky, so peel the paper off carefully.

I didn't have any lemons in the house, so I used orange zest and juice. It was just fine.

This next one is a potluck favorite. Since it was on sale last week, I decided to use the meat from a baked turkey breast this time, and it was delicious that way, too. I don't make it that often, since it isn't exactly low calorie. But it is easy, and yummy.


Poppy Seed Chicken

6-8 chicken breasts, cooked and slightly shredded
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 16 ounce tub sour cream
2 Tb poppy seeds (or as desired)
2 individual packs/tubes Ritz crackers (or Townhouse)
1 stick margarine (butter)


Combine cooked chicken, soup, and sour cream in a large bowl. Crush one pack of crackers and spread over bottom of 9X13 pan. Sprinkle 1 Tb poppy seeds over cracker crumbs. Spread chicken mixture in pan over layer of cracker crumbs and seeds. Spread other pack of crushed crackers over chicken mixture. Sprinkle rest of poppy seeds over cracker crumbs. Melt butter and drizzle over top.

Bake 325 for 45 minutes to one hour, until golden on top. Cool 5 minutes and serve.

This is it. The holidays are officially over. Yesterday we spent the day in Frankenmuth visiting the grandparents. Since I've already bemoaned the depressing bad smells, the lack of hearing and growing physical enfeeblement in other posts, I won't cover all that again here. We still had good visits, and the food and Christmas gifts we brought seemed to be much appreciated. Nothing seemed to need immediate attention, other than Grandma Kueffner's hearing aid battery. We changed that for her, and a conversation was then actually possible.

There were quite a few Christmas lights up around private homes and businesses around Frankenmuth, so Tim and I drove around a little admiring them. The relatively warm, rainy weather didn't quite seem to be fitting, but we were all grateful we didn't get the ice storm we seem to get so frequently around New Year's Day, or a snow storm which narrowly missed us to the north. Still, the dark gray skies and pouring rain all day were a little depressing. All our snow is gone.

Today, I'm being a complete and utter slug. Okay, I am simmering prime rib bones for beef stock, and I plan to deal with turkey carcasses in the same way shortly, but so far this morning after sending Tim off to work an unusual early shift, I have lounged around in my ratty old bathrobe, watched 'Van Helsing' (for the 7th or 8th time, I think...New eye candy alert!!), watched the new and improved version of 'Return of the Jedi' on DVD; and eaten about 4 peanut butter balls and about 5 bourbon balls. Literally laying around, eating bon-bons! Since I worked New Year's Eve, my weekend was pushed back a day, and I have tonight off work, too. So I could spend the entire day like this. And dammit, I should. Except I probably ought to make it look like I've done *something* by the time Tim comes home from work. There is no more room in the kitchen for more dirty dishes, and rank as it is, laundry is not going to get up and march to the laundry room. There is sadly no remote control for exercise, either. I have to do that myself, too.

I don't think I've posted recipes here for two of my favorite Christmas cookies. These alone will be responsible for any bitching about tight clothing the next month or so.

Honey Ginger Bourbon Balls

from Chocolate Lovers' Cookies and Brownies cookbook

1 cup gingersnap cookie crumbs
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar, divided
1 cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts
1 square (one ounce) unsweetened chocolate
1 1/2 tablespoon honey
1/4 cup bourbon

Combine crumbs, one cup of the sugar and the nuts in a large bowl. Combine chocolate and honey in a small bowl over hot water (or microwave it on low); stir until chocolate is melted. Blend in bourbon. Stir bourbon mixture into crumb mixture until well blended. Shape into one inch balls. Sprinkle remaining sugar over balls. Refrigerate until firm.

Notes:

I use toasted pecans. Cool them first before grinding.

I double or triple the batch right away. One recipe doesn't make nearly enough.

Repeated dustings with powdered sugar may be necessary to keep them nice looking.

I'm very partial to Jack Daniel's Gentleman Jack and Stauffer's brand gingersnaps for this recipe.

These are best after they mellow for two or three days, but repeated Quality Control taste testing is essential from the time they are made and continuously over the following days.


Peanut Butter Balls (also known as Buckeyes)

Altered from a December 22nd 1992 Better Homes and Gardens magazine recipe.

No rice crispies, paraffin wax, shortening, or any other unholy adulterations in this version.

2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon milk
2 tsp granulated sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
at least one cup creamy peanut butter

Coating: Any good milk chocolate. I like Callebaut, or a Trader Joe's Pound Plus Milk Chocolate bar.

In a mixer bowl, combine butter and peanut butter and beat until blended. Add the granulated sugar and vanilla. Carefully add the powdered sugar so it doesn't fly everywhere. Mix on medium speed once sugar is incorporated. Add more peanut butter if desired. Once you are satisfied with the peanut butter level and consistency, stop adding.

Line a jelly roll pan with wax paper. Roll heaping spoonfuls of filling into 3/4 inch balls. Place on pan and refrigerate until firm. Meanwhile melt chocolate in microwave on low until melted. Stir until smooth. One by one, completely submerge balls in melted chocolate. Retrieve with fork, and carefully place on wax paper lined pan. Make decorative swirl with the fork. Sprinkle with colored nonpareils before chocolate sets. Refrigerate until chocolate is completely set. Store in airtight tin lined with wax paper.

Repeated Quality Control taste testing is necessary as the filling is being made, and for the completed product over the following days.

Okay, time to check out the Bonus DVD for my Star Wars set. I know, I know. I'm hopelessly behind the times. Everyone else is flipping out over the LOTR DVD's and extended versions. I don't have those yet...